Door to Destiny
by sakurademonalchemist
Summary: The effects of the seal send Setsuna Sawada far from her home and into a destiny she never would have imagined. Now, not only does she have to save the worlds from the Heartless but now she has to figure out her own heart when it comes to her best friend Riku. As if dealing with Xehanort's mad schemes weren't bad enough! Fem Sora!
1. Chapter 1

**All hail the magical lure of the internet! Now that I have it, expect regular updates again as well as a few stories I never had the chance to post!**

* * *

Timoteo felt a slight pang of regret at what he was about to do to an innocent child. However he had agreed years ago to keep Iemitsu's civilian family out of the Cosa Nostra, and that would never happen if young Setsuna had Sky flames.

The seal he was going to use was a rather obscure one that hadn't been seen in over a century. Something about 'unusual side effects'. However it had been used to successfully seal a Sky flame without any harm to the one it was applied to, according to the records.

For a moment, nothing bad happened as the seal was put into place.

Then a massive black hole opened up from under little Setsuna, sending her falling into a black abyss.

Cold, hard shock appeared on the faces of the two men.

"What...what just happened?!"

Timoteo had no answer, and their search for the missing child would come up empty. Even inquiries to the Vindice, considering the nature of their flames, came up empty.

Nana was beyond devestated that her daughter vanished without a trace, and rightfully blamed her husband for his carelessness in allowing her to be taken.

She didn't know who kidnapped her child, but as she had been out getting groceries for dinner the loss of her daughter was firmly on the shoulders of her husband who had been watching her at the time.

_Elsewhere in Namimori..._

Kawahira cursed. He had thought he cast all mentions of that damn seal out of any records that would allow anyone to use it.

And now thanks to the incompetence of Iemitsu and the idiocy of Timoteo, the future Vongola Decimo had been forcibly removed from this particular world.

All because a system he had put into place to _secure_ it from an even greater issue.

The Arcobaleno had no idea they were the power source to the barrier keeping the heartless out of this world, just as the Mare Rings and the Vongola rings kept the forces of darkness such as Xehanort or Maleficent from discovering this place and infesting it with heartless or Nobodies.

There was a reason he had settled on the world known collectively as "Elysium".

He had secured it purely to insure there would always be _one_ world safe from the darkness as a last bastion for those that would fight against it.

And now thanks to a seal he had made a point of destroying any records of, the last true Princess of Light was cast out of a world that should have been her sanctuary. There was no way to tell if Setsuna would remain a Princess or not after having her Heart taken from her by the arrogance of her 'family'.

_Elsewhere, on another world..._

She didn't know where she was, or why it mattered. All she could remember was the sky and how beautiful it was. The sight would move her to tears.

The adults around her spoke in low tones, but they could find nothing wrong with her. Eventually, a couple took her from the strange house and decided to adopt her.

Her fascination with the sky and it's ever changing moods influenced the adults into giving her a name.

Sora.

One night, while she was sound asleep in her bed she had a strange dream. A boy like her had his heart forcibly taken away, and what little was left was falling apart at the seams.

So she offered him what was left of her own fragile heart, which barely had any light left after her sudden awakening in this strange world.

Their hearts connected, and in a strange twist of fate his heart filled the void left by the one she had lost, just as her light filled the cracks in his soul.

Little by little, Sora began to smile again and remember what it was like to be whole. Meeting Riku really helped, because being around him made it easier to recall the sensation of _feeling_ actual emotions.

Just being around him made her feel really happy and warm.

Kairi was nice enough, but Sora liked Riku best. Kairi was more like an older sister than anything else.

Not that either of the other children knew she was a girl. For some reason they seemed to think she was another boy, and she didn't see any reason to correct them. It wasn't like it was that important anyway.

Sora was a pretty normal girl, even if she was a tomboy. She kept her hair short, never dressed up in anything 'girly' like the others and was just as quick to laugh at the gross stuff like frogs, fish and bugs instead of thinking they were disgusting.

By the time she reached thirteen most of the island firmly believed her to be a boy, and never thought anything of it. Her parents were of the opinion that the situation would sort itself out one way or another once puberty hit.

At the very least they got the entertainment of seeing Sora's crush possibly develop into something more once she acknowledged the fact she liked Riku as more than just a best friend.

It was as close to a normal, happy childhood as one could get. And then it all came crashing down shortly before Sora turned fourteen.

They were so close to finishing the raft too.

* * *

It took a couple of weeks, but Sora eventually found Riku after the island was lost to darkness.

Sora wanted nothing more than to tackle Riku into a hug. Except...something seemed off about him.

"What's the matter Sora?" asked Riku.

"Riku...who exactly helped you to get to Traverse Town?" asked Sora slowly.

She couldn't put her finger on it, but she had the worst feeling Riku was caught up in something that would hurt him in the long run if she didn't help him.

"That doesn't matter."

"It matters because the last time I saw you, you were being swallowed up in the same force that destroyed our island!" said Sora. "Can you blame me for being a little worried?"

"Afraid I'll be taken down by some heartless?" smirked Riku.

Sora shook her head.

"Yeah, right. If anyone could defend themselves against such low ranked monsters like Heartless, it would be you Riku. I'm more worried about the people who have the ability to _control_ the heartless."

Riku blinked.

"Control them?"

"Anyone with enough power to pull that off likely got that way through treachery and using other people as disposable pawns. And we really don't have nearly enough experience to tell when we're being used like that considering no one was like that on the island," said Sora sensibly.

"Are you worried about Kairi?" asked Riku.

There was an odd note in Riku's voice when he said that, and if Sora had been anyone else she would have dismissed it. Except she had always noticed Riku didn't particularly _like_ how close Sora was to Kairi.

If she didn't know any better she would swear Riku was possessive of her or something.

Sora shook her head.

"I can feel it in here (she patted her heart) that Kairi is in the least amount of danger. Besides, I haven't seen her since the island was destroyed. I'm more worried about you getting into trouble, since Donald and Goofy have been keeping me from falling head first into it," said Sora confidently. "You're too strong and sure of yourself that the odds of you failing to notice you're being manipulated without someone to keep your head on straight are pretty high."

Was Riku blushing? Nah, it must have been a trick of the light... right?

"Don't worry about me Sora. I'll be fine."

Sora smiled at him.

"If I don't worry about you, who else will?"

Now she was sure he was blushing. Not that Riku would ever dare to _admit_ that fact.

Still she couldn't help the sinking feeling into her gut that someone had gotten their claws into Riku. And that it wasn't someone that would ask him to do _nice_ things.

* * *

_Some time later, after Agrabah..._

Sora thought she could put up with a lot of things, but after learning what Genie could do an idea occurred to her. She had always felt...wrong. Like something important had been taken from her and it would take a miracle to bring it back.

A miracle...or the cosmic powers of a recently freed Genie.

"You want me to what?" asked Genie confused.

"I want you to fix what was taken from me as a kid. I woke up when I was five with no memory of how I ended up in that state feeling nothing but cold, and I know something had to be wrong because it took me a year before I could remotely act normal. It's been close to nine years since I was found and I still can't get rid of the cold."

"Doesn't sound like something I can fix," said Genie. "Wishes like that usually require a specific idea of what I'm dealing with."

"Just knowing if it was caused by trauma or something magically based would help a lot," said Sora.

"Now _that_ I can do!" said Genie. Sora was a good kid, and this was minor magics compared to the big stuff...like turning Jafar into another Genie.

He snapped his fingers...and frowned.

"What is it?"

"There's a magical seal on your soul. I haven't seen one of this in centuries, and never on someone as young as you. Generally speaking they only used this on criminals," said Genie frowning. "Hang on a sec while I use my power to get rid of it... no kid should have something like that chaining them down. It would completely ruin their potential, never mind the side effects of having it on."

"Side effects?" repeated Sora alarmed.

"Considering your age, it would delay puberty easily. Would explain why you look closer to twelve instead of fourteen," said Genie.

And considering his scan of Sora, it would likely jump start the less fun aspects of growing up...like her period. He hadn't thought anything of it when he first saw Sora, thinking she was a short boy who was overdue a growth spurt, but now that he knew she was a girl that seal was raising all sorts of red flags. If she still had that on when she turned sixteen it could have caused irreperable damage and likely have rendered her sterile at the very least.

A few uses of cosmic powers later, and the seal was gone...and a bit of the long-term damage was discreetly fixed. He had little doubt Sora was going to be in for a rough month or two while she hit a few overdue growth spurts on top of the 'fun' of maturing into a proper female.

Which was why the first stop after Genie removed the seal and fixed the damage...was straight to Traverse Town to find Aerith and Yuffie.

It was going to be an...enlightening...conversation for many involved.

_With Aerith and Yuffie..._

Aerith had a rather...odd...look on her face when she realized what Sora was asking.

Which was why she had a question of her own.

"Sora...are you a girl?" she asked carefully.

"Yeah, why? Does this have anything to do with why my parents kept saying things would sort themselves out when I refused to wear the girl's uniform at school?"

Aerith looked at Yuffie, who had a fixed expression on her face.

"Please tell me that your parents already explained the birds and bees," said Aerith.

"Mom said that we were going to have a serious talk after we visited the doctor. I think she was starting to get worried about me being a 'late bloomer' from what I remember overhearing."

Aerith winced.

"Wait, how did you know to come to us first for this sort of thing?"

"Because I asked Genie if he would fix whatever was taken from me as a child, and the first people who came to mind since my island is gone was you two."

"What do you mean, fix what was taken?" asked Aerith, openly alarmed by that particular wording.

"According to Genie I had some really old and obscure magical-based seal on me that hasn't been used in centuries. He said it had a few side effects and that he had never seen anyone my age have it on them because it was only used on criminals. I think when he removed it, he started a process that should have happened before now."

Aerith sweatdropped. At least Sora had picked the two most likely to give her straight answers and knew how to be discreet about this.

After all, Yuffie was a tomboy herself and likely knew the sort of clothes Sora would prefer. And Aerith would know how to ease Sora into a more...feminine...outlook in the process.

It was almost like helping a little sister learn how to become a woman.

That being said Aerith might dip into Cid's secret stash of booze once Sora was gone. She was not expecting this particular... problem...to rise when the Keyblade bearer came to visit!

* * *

In retrospect, the fact that neither Donald _or _Goofy picked up on the fact Sora was a girl until they 'landed' on Atlantica made perfect sense. After all, Sora had never really bothered with all the frilly stuff most girls liked at her age, preferring to join the boys in their make-believe adventures.

Did not change the fact she was going to give Riku _such_ an earful for allowing himself to be swayed by the wrong side!

"Hey Sora, I didn't know you were a girl!" said Goofy in honest surprise.

"Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't fight like the boys can!" huffed Sora annoyed. "Mom gave up trying to get me into dresses a long time ago, saying it would come out eventually. I never did get what she meant by that though."

Donald's magic had turned Sora into a proper mermaid...thankfully _without_ the standard sea-shell bra. Then again, Sora had only recent hit that particular stage in life so there wasn't much to cover up in the first place. Instead she got a half-swimsuit in place of the sea-shells alongside the long flowing orange tail.

Sora actually rather liked the look, though she wished it didn't basically announce to the world that she was a girl.

She still hadn't come to terms with the fact she was stuck suffering once a month as her body transitioned into actual curves. Never mind how Riku was going to react when he found out!

Fortunately for her, Donald and Goofy shrugged off the fact Sora was really a girl who preferred boy's clothing rather easily. It meant they didn't treat her any differently than they did before.


	2. Chapter 2

Sora took one look at Kairi...and a sinking feeling filled her. Something felt...off...about the way Kairi was just staring at everything listlessly.

She vividly remembered that odd sight of Kairi going _through_ her and vanishing.

So seeing the slightly older girl on the pirate ship, with Riku controlling the heartless was a nasty shock.

(Though not as bad as the shock Riku got when Sora lost her temper and slapped him upside the head for falling in with the worst crowd possible considering the circumstances. There was a time to reason and a time to be violent...Sora was just smart enough to recognize which was which.)

Meeting Peter Pan and Tinkerbell would change a lot of things. Just not right away.

The pixie dust was interesting, but Sora thought it was strange how quickly she picked up how to fly. Almost like she was born for the air.

Sora was somewhat worried about Kairi, but there wasn't anything she could do for the older girl right now so she focused on getting Riku to stop whatever it was he was doing.

_A short while later..._

Sora didn't know what made her do it, but she took out a meat sandwich she had in her bag and tossed it to the crocodile.

The animal gobbled it up, and gave her an odd look.

"Hey big guy, I'll give you some more if you agree not to eat me, deal?"

To Sora's amusement, the crocodile nodded it's head. She wondered if anyone had tried talking to it before.

Probably not.

She tossed him a few more of the sandwiches, since she was planning to make some more later anyway when this was over. Goofy certainly liked them.

"You're not so scary are you?"

"Sora, are you actually _befriending_ that croc?" said Peter incredulous.

"Why not?" said Sora confused. He seemed perfectly friendly to her and from what she could tell the poor guy was just hungry. He must follow Hook because he smelled the food or thought he _was_ food.

The crocodile was even wagging it's tail like a puppy.

Peter couldn't help the staring, really. The idea of befriending the crocodile was something he never would have thought of in a million years. Or maybe Sora was just special.

_With Riku..._

He felt terrible. The more he learned how to control the darkness, the worse that feeling got.

Except around Sora. For some reason being around him made the darkness abate and a strange warmth fill his chest. Like he had found a place where he could truly belong and be himself with no strings attached. It had been on a low burn before, but perhaps the keyblade had drawn that warmth out because it felt like an inferno blazing around his best friend.

It was only because Sora liked Kairi that Riku even cared about getting her heart back. No matter how much it irritated him, he knew Sora would never forgive him if he allowed Kairi to remain like this forever.

Even if he secretly wished Kairi would disappear, so he could have Sora all to himself. That particular wish had only grown since he found Sora again, and he would have liked nothing better than to kidnap him just so no one else would take Sora from him again.

* * *

Riku locked eyes with Sora. It had finally come to this. He would have Kairi's heart back and Sora would be happy. It didn't matter that he had to kidnap so many others from their homes. He would finally have the power to go where he wanted, and have real adventures.

Sora stared in shock when she realized Riku had stolen her keyblade. She didn't even know that was possible!

She looked at the wooden sword in her hand...it was useless against Riku.

"Riku, what on earth were you doing? Who gave you that power?" said Sora. She was furious with him.

"I am the true keyblade wielder...you were nothing more than a convenient replacement Sora," said Riku smugly.

"This isn't like you! Snap out of it!" said Sora.

"Don't act as if you really know me. Thanks to the powers of darkness, I'm finally free," said Riku.

Sora didn't know _what_ made her do it. Perhaps her heart finally had enough of Riku's idiocy regarding the powers of darkness or how flippant he was about using them. He was too sure of himself and she refused to see her best friend (and secret crush) fall into Maleficent's plans. Why couldn't he see that he was being used by her?

Either way the punch to the jaw she gave him was incredibly satisfying, and caused the keyblade to fall from his hands.

"Sora, what..."

"You freaking idiot! You think the powers of darkness are a toy you can use on a whim without any consequence? I could care less about you taking the keyblade, but I refuse to let you be used by Maleficent! If you keep this up, then there's no telling what dark path you'll end up taking!"

"Since when do you care? You've been running around with your new friends and haven't done anything to help Kairi!"

"Riku, do you have a crush on Kairi? Is that what this is about?" asked Sora suddenly.

Riku's disgusted expression said volumes of what he thought about _that_ idea.

"Uh, what's going on, hyuk?" asked Goofy.

"Looks like a lover's quarrel to me," said Donald. Beast was too busy trying to recover from chasing after Belle to say anything.

"Lover's quarrel?" said Goofy.

"Seems Riku likes Sora, but is too proud to admit it...and believes Sora likes Kairi," said Donald.

From what the duck could tell, Riku had _zero_ idea about Sora being a girl and probably thought Sora liked Kairi as a potential girlfriend. This entire mess was caused by the fact Sora was a tomboy and was too shy to admit her feelings for Riku.

Sora looked openly baffled when Riku threw out the comment about sharing a paopu fruit with Kairi. Then it hit her what was going on.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me. You think I _like_ Kairi? She's an older sister figure to me at _best_, you idiot," said Sora face-palming.

"What?" said Riku, thoroughly surprised.

"Any feelings I have for Kairi are more in line with that of a sister or close female friend. I though _you_ liked her because of how popular she is," said Sora exasperated.

She had gotten her hopes up with Riku had thrown her the paopu fruit, only to become very confused when he said that it was for her to share with Kairi.

Riku was very confused at this point...and a spark of hope that maybe he could get Sora's affections turned towards him instead grew.

"Besides, according to Genie I had some sort of ancient magical seal on me for the past ten years. Any sort of romantic inclinations I might have developed were stunted by it, along with a few growth spurts," said Sora.

Riku blinked.

"Ancient seal?"

"Remember how our parents used to comment about how much I changed since I came to the island? And how glad they were that you had brought me out of my shell? According to Genie someone deliberately put a seal on my full potential, which caused my development to become stunted. He said it would have had some major side effects if he hadn't removed it when he had. I'm pretty sure that's why mom was going to take me to the doctor on Monday, because they were starting to get worried why I hadn't hit puberty yet."

Riku was stunned.

"So then why are you here?"

"Because I knew you needed someone to snap you out of whatever lies Maleficent has filled your head with, idiot. And if you keep using the darkness like you have, I _will_ start delivering regular head slaps until I knock some sense back into you," said Sora flatly, crossing her arms. "Besides, I _know_ Kairi is safe since Maleficent clearly has a plan for her. You're the one who needs saving."

"You think _you_ can save _me?_" said Riku incredulous.

Sora's grin was anything but nice.

"I've learned a few tricks besides how to use a keyblade while we've been apart."

"Then let's see who's resolve is stronger...yours or mine," said Riku, taking a stance with the keyblade.

Sora wondered which part shocked Riku more...the fact Sora took to using her fists to knock some sense into him or the fact that once she decided to save him from his own arrogance her head and fists blazed with orange flames and her eyes glowed a bright amber not unlike the sunsets on the island. She certainly found his wide eyes and slack jaw very amusing.

Following instincts she never knew she even _had_, Sora actually found herself fighting Riku on an even playing field for once. Mostly.

It seemed almost second nature for her to take to the skies in order to compensate for the lack of ground, and Riku's initial look of shock when she first did it really made her want to giggle. She was as agile as a bird while flying, and she didn't think it was Tink's special pixie dust that was at work.

Then it happened. Something between them finally clicked into place and she felt a comforting warmth that she _knew_ belonged solely to Riku flow into her. From the look in his eyes, he felt that warmth too because he was holding his heart in shock.

That warmth chased the darkness he had been using rather freely to this point away.

"You...what _is_ that?" asked Riku.

"I have no idea, but if it snaps you out of whatever hold Maleficent has on you then I'm not going to complain," said Sora flatly.

_Deeper into the castle..._

"Kairi!"

"So you've decided to turn against me? Foolish boy!" sneered Maleficent.

Sora went to Kairi, only to find her unresponsive.

"She's been like that since I found her," said Riku.

Something had settled in him and he was far less antagonistic than before.

"The door will not open so long as the final princess sleeps. Her heart was lost...or perhaps I should say it was _misplaced_," said Maleficent darkly.

"What are you talking about?"

"I can sense the girl's heart in you, foolish boy! So long as you hold her heart, she will never awaken!"

Stunned silence.

"_I_ have Kairi's heart?" said Sora confused.

Come to think of it, she _did_ have a weird vision of Kairi going _through_ her right before the island was lost.

Riku, Donald and Goofy could only watch in alarm as Maleficent did _something_ to remove Kairi's heart from Sora.

Maleficent laughed darkly as she freed Kairi's heart...only to start screaming in agony as something burned her.

"Sora!"

Orange fire blazed from Sora's soul...even as Kairi's heart returned to where it belonged. Unknown to the boys and Maleficent, the light she had carried did not return with her. It began to fill the void in Sora's soul left behind by the seal as Genie's magic took effect.

After all, she had specifically asked that he 'return what was taken' when the seal was applied.

Sora stumbled a bit, as she felt something slip away from her. She wasn't sure what it was, just that it was something she would likely have to get back.

* * *

_(She was falling...falling into Darkness. But didn't this happen before, when she was younger?_

_The man known as "Papa" had the other man seal away her light. The darkness appeared then, as the world itself rejected her existence. Her Light slipped away to hide itself in a temporary host, one who would hide in plain sight until her heart could be returned to her. Six colors disappeared into the ether, leaving only the shell behind._

_One found it's way onto the same world as the Heart's Light._

_The violet color, aloof but protective appeared before her weakened shell. The Heart's Light, hidden but still close helped to spark the limited light left within her._

_Magic...the powers of the Genie destroyed the barrier keeping the light from shining properly, but there was a disconnect between the Heart's Light and her Soul. The limited Spark that kept her from becoming a Heartless started to burn a little brighter, but it was incomplete. _

_The violet color returned, bringing with it the one who would act as her protector. The aloof Cloud drifted serenely in the Sky that it loved so dearly._

_The Light that was taken returned, and the temporary host was freed from it's unknown duty. It had protected the child who carried it, in order to avoid suspicion from the hearts filled with only darkness._

_Amber eyes slowly opened, briefly remembering the time before it was ripped apart, before burying it again. Now wasn't the time to remember._

"Sora!"

_They were waiting for her...why was she still drifting when her Cloud and friends needed her? She reached for Riku's violet fire and followed it back into the real world.)_

* * *

The seven Princesses woke up from their slumber, but the door was open. They needed to evacuate the immediate area for now.

Sora managed to lead Kairi out of there, as the other Princesses were release from their confinement as well. There was a somewhat tearful reunion between Beast and Belle.

Kairi looked between Sora and Riku for a moment.

"It's about freaking time," she said.

"What?" said Riku.

"I mean I've been waiting ages for you two to finally get together already. It was becoming almost painful to watch," said Kairi.

"Wait, _what_?" said Sora, a massive blush appearing on her face. "You mean you knew..."

Riku stared at Sora as a sudden suspicion hit him.

"It was pretty obvious you have a massive crush on Riku, Sora. Just like it was obvious Riku liked you and got super jealous whenever he saw you with someone else," said Kairi smugly. "Honestly some of us were placing bets on when one of you would get a clue and I know Mellie has been shipping you two for years."

"...Isn't Mellie a fan of boy-on-boy pairings?" said Sora after a moment.

"Trust me, she's been making a few stories with you as the bottom," said Kairi, almost wanting to cackle. Particularly since Riku had a discreetly smug look on his face.

"Boy is she going to be in for a major disappointment," said Sora.

"There is no way you'd ever top me," said Riku.

"That's not what I meant," said Sora. "And after the grief you've given me for the past two months I think I'll let you find out the hard way why she's going to be disappointed."

The disappointment coming from the fact Sora was actually a girl and her beloved guy-on-guy pairing wasn't going to happen.

"Wait...so you're not denying the fact you have a crush on me this whole time?"

"Riku, I've had a massive crush on you since I was _twelve_ and you started having issues with your voice," deadpanned Sora. "I just didn't see any reason why I should compromise my friendship with you over a relationship that might not even happen."

Riku looked irritated.

"Are you telling me this entire misunderstanding happened because we both thought the other person liked Kairi?" said Riku annoyed.

Kairi blinked, though she inwardly was exasperated. Honestly, Riku and Sora were like her little brothers.


	3. Chapter 3

Riku was drifting in the void. After they closed the Door to Darkness, and the lights came back, he had fallen. However something seemed to shine within him, keeping the darkness from swallowing his Heart completely.

As he reached out for it, that light became a vibrant violet glow that originated from his very being. Sea green eyes shifted into something closer to amethysts.

Something inside told him that the fire would protect him. Would lead him back to the light he craved.

The warm, amber light that he saw in Sora's heart. It beckoned him, calling out from the darkness to lead him back to a place he knew he truly belonged. A place that accepted him, regardless of his flaws and insecurities. To someone that would forever come for him no matter how far he fell.

As he contemplated that warm glow, the fire burned brighter. His resolve to be reunited with Sora started a blaze he was in no hurry to put out.

It was then that the card appeared.

_In Castle Oblivion..._

Sora didn't know how it happened or when, but at some point she was seperated from Goofy, Donald and Jiminy.

She kept calling out, but no one answered.

It was then she stumbled across something interesting.

It was a boy, about her age. He felt really familiar, and he looked like he was sleeping.

Sora reached out to touch him...and a spark passed from her body to his. It was green and warm and felt like the same fire Riku had, except it felt more like lightning than clouds. It was rather strange.

A green fire seemed to spark within his soul...it was barely bigger than a candle's worth of flame, but the light had been sparked within him.

She had the feeling this boy was important, but she had no idea why.

Right now she needed to find that other girl, the one in her memory.

Before she left, she pulled out her keyblade and aimed it at the unconcious boy. A bright light came forth from the tip and hit him directly...a glow appeared in his chest, before a semi-familiar vortex formed under him, causing him to disappear.

(In the World That Never Was, Roxas woke up from an odd dream he had. A soft yellow flame sparked to life, flickering in the void where his heart should be. All it needed was a bit of encouragement to become a blaze.)

As she went in deeper through the castle, Sora had the weirdest feeling she was forgetting something important.

_A few hours later..._

Sora stared at Naminé. The warmth in her chest sang merrily, the same way it had when she found that sleeping boy. She gently put her hand on the shoulder of the other girl.

"I trust you...and I have the feeling that not all the memories of this castle will disappear while I'm sleeping. So long as our resolve to move forward is strong enough, we'll pull through."

Naminé felt as though a warmth had spread throughout her entire body. Was this what a heart felt like?

And something about the way Sora said that resonated with her. Unseen, her eyes began to glow a light indigo color.

Sora walked into the sleeping pod of her own volition.

As she slumbered, strange scenes of a life she almost suspected was the creation of Naminé appeared.

Except these scenes involved a child rather young...was it possible the tampering Naminé did to her memories woke up the remnants of the life she had before becoming Sora?

The child, Setsuna, had a semi-happy family life even if her father was very sketchy. But that all changed in an instant when the man the girl called "Iemitsu" brought a stranger into her home. She called him "Grandpa Timo", even though it was pretty obvious there was no real relation between them. Iemitsu acted more like the man was his _boss_, not his relative.

Something about the old man gave her a really bad feeling, one that panned out.

Sora watched as the young girl was playing in the yard and kicked the ball too hard. It went up into a tree, and the men did nothing to help her get it down despite watching the entire event. The tree was not that high up, and the girl managed to climb up to the branch the ball was stuck on to get it down.

Except her attempts to reach the ball caused her to fall down...and a familiar orange fire to spring forth from her body.

She had the feeling that if the keyblade didn't come with an automatic translation spell attached, she would be unable to understand a word the men said. It was clear Setsuna didn't.

Iemitsu was clearly unhappy about the orange fire and practically_ demanded_ the old man place a seal on her. The old man looked unhappy, but agreed.

The hand with the fancy ring became alight with a much weaker and less vibrant orange fire...one that sent chills down her spine. He poked her head, and Sora had the horrible suspicion she had just discovered the reason for her 'empty' behavior shortly after being found by the adults.

The same vortex that had appeared under the boy earlier formed under Setsuna...who had the same empty expression Kairi had before her heart was returned. She fell into darkness, disappearing from the room.

Sora's heart thumped rapidly.

Six bright lights of fire broke off from Setsuna's heart, vanishing into the darkness...along with the familiar sight of a heart belonging to a Princess of Light.

The orange fire remained in her soul, except it was weak. Barely the same amount you would find one a candle.

The purple color and the Heart of Light stuck close to her...only to latch on to a much younger Riku and Kairi.

Sora had an epiphany...the little girl that was cast into darkness... was _her_.

She had the feeling her childhood would have been _very_ different if she had stayed in that world. Considering how recklessly this Iemitsu and his companion had sealed her very _heart_ away without a single regard for the consequences, she had no doubt her childhood would have been a sad and lonely one.

There was one thing that bugged her though...was it possible Kairi wasn't the Seventh princess of Light, but merely the temporary replacement?

* * *

iku stared at the slumbering form of Sora with mixed feelings.

Unlike Sora, he decided against sealing away the darkness in his heart. Something told him that the darkness itself was not evil, nor was the light something that was inherently good.

Regardless of the path he walked, Sora was a constant source of light in his life. No matter what happened, or how difficult the path ahead was, Sora was the one thing he knew that could lead him on the path that suited him best. Nothing else in his world mattered.

He didn't need Ansem's promise of power, or DiZ's attempts to manipulate him towards his own prejudice towards Nobodies.

The disgust he showed towards Naminé made it pretty clear that DiZ didn't even see Nobodies as human...merely tools to further his own ends.

He had the feeling Sora would absolutely disapprove of that mindset.

Steeling his heart, Riku turned to leave. Except...something caught his eye.

Was it just him or did he see odd lumps on Sora's chest?

It had to be his imagination...Sora was a boy like him, so why would he develop a chest like Kairi had once she hit puberty? Maybe he was seeing things because the pod was shaped so oddly.

Even though his sight was restricted, Riku could still see the brilliant violet flame in his heart.

With nothing better to do in between the random missions DiZ gave him, and checking in on Sora, he began to experiment with the fire.

He found the that the stronger his resolve was, the brighter and more powerful it became. So long as that never wavered, it would remain constant.

Much like magic, using too much at first was exhausting. However the deeper his understanding and control over it became, the longer he could use it.

It took him a solid month before he finally figured out what it did.

The purple fire increased things. It didn't matter if it was his natural strength, the power of his magic or even materials... whatever he applied it to increased.

He nearly gave DiZ a heart attack the first time he used it to make an entire bathtub full of water from what was originally a half-full glass.

(DiZ proved to be surprisingly helpful discovering the extent of what the purple fire could do. Apparently DiZ was a fan of the scientific method, and as long as Riku was willing he was more than happy to help expand the young man's knowledge of what his unknown ability could accomplish.)

As the long year passed by, Riku knew something strange was going on.

It started when he saw the Replica, "Xion". At first he dismissed her as a weak copy of Sora, meant to prevent his awakening.

But after Xion saw the real thing and even touched the outside of the pod, Riku sensed a subtle change in her body.

It took him a few weeks before he realized he could sense the same odd fire that was within his soul. Only her fire felt different...it felt 'calm', though he had a hard time figuring out a way to properly describe it.

However the final time he saw Xion in person, he noticed something.

The flame she held was a deep blue, almost like the sky at night. Compared to the vibrant indigo that Naminé had (he had trouble pinning down her ability), just being around it made him feel extremely lethargic and sleepy.

Riku had to wonder...did close proximity to Sora kick-start the process of developing a heart in a Nobody? Or did his presence simply awaken the sleeping fire in others?

Either way, any animosity towards Xion or Naminé disappeared after the first three days of coming into contact with Sora's vibrant orange. There was almost an unspoken camaraderie between them that he could not explain.

Riku knew something had to be going on, because rather than feel irritation towards Sora's Nobody Roxas, he felt a strange reluctance to forcibly extract the memories Roxas contained.

He wondered if it was really necessary to make Roxas the "container" using Naminé's indigo fire, and if there was another way.

After all, Roxas' bright golden flame reminded him of playful sunlight.

Riku was likely the only one to keep observing the situation as Roxas approached the container Sora was inside.

As such he was the only one to see that Roxas didn't disappear like the other Nobody's did when they were destroyed.

He watched in amazement as the heart within Roxas, which glowed with a bright golden light not unlike the sun, shot off back into the corridor past Goofy and the others...and into one of the opaque containers. A smaller fragment of the golden light returned to Sora, but the majority of it went into the container.

Riku waited for Sora and the others to leave the building, and for DiZ to become preoccupied with what he considered "more important matters" before he went to check the corridor with the empty pods.

It took him a few minutes, but eventually he stopped cold in front of one.

Inside, he felt the steady 'feel' of Roxas' sunny warmth...and he wasn't alone. In the pods next to him, he felt Xion's calm blue fire, and the crackle of something that made him think of lightning during thunderstorms on the island.

The lightning almost made him think of Sora, except his light was much brighter and more inviting. It was very strange.

Riku knew that these fires had something to do with Sora's orange one. And that if DiZ knew _exactly_ what was inside the pods, he would try to get rid of them. Especially Roxas and Xion.

There was no way Riku would allow that to happen. Sora would be upset, and there was the possibility that the two Nobody teens might have developed a heart, making them no different than Riku or Sora.

Besides, they were both keyblade wielders, and they needed all the help they could get with the Heartless and those like Maleficent.

So the silverette kept his silence on what was in the 'empty' pods. As long as DiZ didn't notice the contents, he wasn't going to inform the man what had happened.

* * *

Sora woke up slowly. Though once she was properly awake she noticed something was off about her center of gravity.

Looking down, she almost wanted to groan in exasperation.

Great...apparently while she was sleeping, her body decided _now_ was the perfect time to develop a more feminine figure. At least she slept through the worst of what Aerith called 'that time of the month'. Now she was going to have to get used to the changes her body went through instead of growing into them like everyone else.

"You okay Sora?" asked Goofy.

"I'm fine," said Sora, her voice creaking a bit. She flushed.

This was going to get annoying fast...hopefully the squeaky voice would be temporary.

(By the time they ran into King Mickey, her voice had more or less settled into a new normal. She just found it frustrating that she would have to speak a little lower than normal, because it was going to be tough disguising the almost lyrical quality her voice had taken.)


	4. Chapter 4

Sora didn't know what to think of Yen Sid's tower.

"So you're saying that Nobodies aren't real people?" said Sora. "What if they develop a heart?"

"It is impossible for a Nobody to develop a heart of of their own," said Yen Sid patiently.

"Are you sure? Has anyone really done a long-term study of them? I mean we barely know anything about the heartless beyond the fact they're the embodiment of darkness of those who've had their heart taken," Sora pointed out.

Yen Sid was quiet, surprised Sora would point such a thing out.

"It is true, there are not many studies done on the heartless or Nobodies. It _may_ be possible that under certain circumstances a Nobody might develop a heart of their own. However if that is the case, there is no way to be certain if such an event would restore the missing piece of the one who's heart has been stolen," conceded Yen Sid. "Even Ansem the Wise was unable to fully explain the existence of the Heartless."

"Gawsh...does that mean if everyone's heart were filled with light, the Heartless would go away?" asked Goofy.

"I don't think so. I remember hearing that the brighter the light is, the deeper the darkness will become. I don't think that 'darkness' itself is actually _evil_," said Sora. "After all, if we didn't have the bad times, we would never learn to appreciate the good ones."

"A wise observation," said Yen Sid. "In the beginning, light and dark were but two sides of the same coin... it was only after the Keyblade War that the power of darkness fell into misuse."

Yen Sid's estimation of Sora went up a bit. The young woman was far more observant and wise for her age.

"Before you go, you should meet the three good fairies. If you ask, they will make appropriate garments for you...what you wearing now seems a bit too small for you," said Yen Sid.

Sora...had a strange feeling of trepidation fill her. Why did she have a bad feeling about this?

_An hour later..._

Sora's eyebrows twitched.

It wasn't that she didn't like the outfit...even if the new clothes made it harder to hide the fact she had breasts now.

Oh no, her irritation came from one simple fact.

Her hair had gone from short and spikey, to long and straight! Worse, even when she borrowed a pair of scissors, it grew back after five minutes!

"I can get that my clothes were too small, but why did you change my hair too?" she complained.

She always kept her hair short. She had no idea what to do with long hair! Sora didn't know the first thing about braiding or how to take care of it!

"Don't you like it dear? Your hair cut before was too short," said Flora brightly.

"A girl should maintain their appearance dearie," said Fauna.

"And all those split ends!" said Merriweather.

Sora's face twitched. If it wasn't for the fact they were basically giving her a new outfit for free, she might have snapped.

She turned and noticed Donald at least was maintaining a respectable distance from her irritation. Goofy knew something had annoyed her, but he hadn't developed the same knee-jerk reaction Donald had to an angry woman.

First her voice had changed, then her chest had gotten bigger, now she was stuck with long hair! It was like the universe was conspiring against her or something!

_In Hollow Bastion..._

"Oh my...what happened to your hair Sora?" asked Aerith in surprise.

Sora had a miserable look when she heard that question.

"When the fairies gave me a new outfit, they also cast a spell on my hair. Every time I try to cut it, it grows back. Help?"

Aerith looked at Sora with sympathy. Mostly because she knew that Sora was only now getting used to being a girl, and was still stuck in a tomboy phase. Which meant trying help her to develop a more feminine outlook would require careful guidance.

Forcing her to contend with long hair so suddenly was just going to make it harder.

"Come with me... I think I have a few Ribbons or maybe a couple of hair ties you can use until the spell wears off."

"Does it have to be ribbons?"

"These Ribbons help prevent status effects. Besides, even I know there's not enough time to teach you how to braid properly with how busy things are lately," said Aerith.

"I don't think I'd look good with a braid," said Sora, making a face.

Aerith privately agreed to that. Besides, she suspected Sora might take more after another friend of hers who ran a bar.

It would be rather amusing if Tifa took Sora under her wing and taught her how to fight. Especially if Sora's clothing preferences started mimicking the martial artist.

Donald and Goofy wisely did not ask what Aerith had given Sora besides a minor make-over. It was going to be slightly mortifying for her to figure out what her monthly schedule was, because she had been asleep for over a year and had only _just_ started puberty shortly before being put into that pod.

Sora had no idea what her schedule even was, never mind having the supplies needed to make it more bearable.

At least the Ribbon (which Aerith fashioned to look more like a headband to keep the bangs out of her face) and the hair tye made the longer hair less of a pain to deal with. Sora could _not_ wait until the spell on her hair wore off so she could make it a more manageable length.

_A short while later..._

There was one thing Sora didn't get...why was Riku working in Organization XIII, and why was he so much taller?

If it wasn't for the familiar feel of his fire, Sora never would have recognized Riku at all.

Perhaps Yen Sid or the King knew what was going on.

* * *

Sora took one look at "Ping"...and just knew.

"Oh... you're like me."

"Huh?" said Ping.

"You're pretending to be a boy because the guys won't let you fight with them, right?" said Sora.

'Ping' almost panicked...until they took a closer look at the odd teen. Then she took in the feminine lines on Sora's face and the almost hidden bumps on her chest and it clicked.

"I have to take my father's place in order to maintain our family's honor. Unfortunately the army only allows men, and I have no brothers to take father's place."

Sora nodded with sympathy.

"I'm Sora, and this is Donald and Goofy."

"My name is Mulan, but please call me Ping in front of the men. If they find out I'm a woman then it will only end badly," said Mulan.

"No worries... if anyone gets why you're hiding your gender it's me," said Sora.

"Remember, try to be manly!" said Mushu.

"That won't work at all," said Sora amused.

"What do you mean?" asked Mulan.

"If you try to act tough and 'manly', they'll definitely notice something off. Just act yourself and you should be fine...after all, my best friends still have no idea I'm a girl and I never tried to act like a boy in the first place outside of never wearing skirts and keeping my hair short. The only real difference between boys and girls at our age is that boys are a bit more physical when it comes to solving problems and are less inclined to care about wearing less clothes," said Sora wisely.

"How would you know something like that?" asked Mushu annoyed. He was trying to earn the favor he lost during the last stint he had as a Guardian Dragon.

"Let me see your so-called manly act and I'll prove it to you," said Sora.

Within ten seconds, Sora was trying hard not to laugh.

"There is no way you're going to convince anyone like that. If anything you might blow your cover too soon. Your chest is small enough that as long as no one looks in your pants, they're not likely to figure out you're a girl. If anyone asks why you tend to think before you leap, just say your parents were attempting to make you a scholar until your father was called in to serve," said Sora with a smile.

Mulan blinked, before a smile appeared on her face. Sora made a valid point...scholars were far less likely to rush in like most boys, so it was only natural she wasn't as 'rough' as the other men. And it neatly explained her inexperience with a sword and martial arts since she was focused on her studies.

Sora took one look at the way the men had their longer hair pinned up, and paused outside of camp. Mulan realized the issue as well, and fortunately knew how to help pin Sora's hair up so no one would suspect she was a girl as well. Since it was slightly cold out, no one questioned why Sora's jacket was zipped up, thus obscuring her chest from view.

The Ribbon Aerith gave her before she left was coming in handy already.

_On the mountain pass..._

Mushu had been suspicious of Sora...right up until he saw the brilliant orange fire she created in her hands while they were scouting.

He very nearly dropped off Mulan's shoulder out of shock.

Sora had the Royal Flame! She must be someone important if she had the rare orange soul fire in those blessed by the gods! Every time that fire appeared, the one who inherited it was always destined to become great leaders of men, often becoming legendary generals or even rulers!

If Mulan stuck close to Sora, Mushu had no doubt that she would bring great honor to her family...with or without the captain's approval.

"Did anyone hear that?" asked Sora.

"Hear what?" asked Mulan.

"It almost sounded like a bird or something," said Sora.

"I didn't hear anything," said Donald.

"Must be my imagination," said Sora. "So Mulan, how are you going to explain this to your dad?"

"I'll think of something..." said Mulan depressed.

They might have wiped out all those Heartless, and even Shan Yu...but that didn't change the fact that the army forbid girls from joining, or that she had illegally taken her father's place.

She was lucky the captain hadn't killed her on the spot when he found out she was a girl.

Mulan decided to change the subject.

"I'm surprised how quickly you took to Chinese Kenpo, Sora. I would have thought you would learn the sword arts faster considering your weapon."

Sora blinked.

"Riku might have been the best at sword fighting, but I was always better at fist-fighting. Too bad the adults always broke us apart for some reason," said Sora.

"Perhaps your talent lies in martial arts, rather than swords," said Mulan.

Before Sora could reply, she heard it again.

This time she knew she heard a bird nearby.

"Isn't that Shan-Yu's falcon?" said Sora.

As if things weren't bad enough already, seeing the Hun appear out of the snow that Mulan had sent down the mountain alarmed everyone.

"We have to warn Shang!" said Mulan in alarm.

As they raced towards the Imperial City, Sora heard it again.

Only this time, it didn't sound at all like the falcon from before. She put it out of mind...after all, they had bigger things to worry about other than a bird.

_In front of the Imperial Palace_...

"There it is again! Where is this bird I keep hearing?" said Sora.

At least Shan-Yu was defeated, and Mulan had protected her family's honor.

"What is it?" asked Mulan.

"I swear I keep hearing a bird of some kind," said Sora.

Mushu had a gleam in his eyes. If the Emperor knew Mulan was friends with someone with the Royal Flame, it would mean her street cred would go through the roof.

"Maybe you should light up your blade with that fire of yours," he suggested.

"You think that would help?" said Sora. Then her eyes narrowed. "This isn't another one of your tricks is it, Mushu?"

Mushu shook his head quickly in denial.

Sora looked at her keyblade, before allowing her flames to flow along the blade. The Emperor's eyes widened in recognition, but that was nothing compared to what happened next.

A piercing cry filled the air, as a large bird broke through the clouds. Sunlight poured through the opening, shining directly on Sora as the bird flew right towards her.

It did a minor pass, causing her ribbon to loosen and her hair to flow freely again. Then it did a wide turn, before calmly perching itself on her shoulder.

It looked like an overgrown peacock, to be honest.

Hearing the cry, Sora's eyes widened.

"This is the bird I keep hearing! Have you been following me?" she asked baffled.

The bird trilled, and began to preen her hair.

"A Feng-Huang..." said the Emperor in amazement.

Sora looked confused, especially by the sudden reverence the Emperor and everyone else (except Donald and Goofy) showed to the bird.

"A what?"

Mushu looked about ready to cackle.

"A Feng-Huang. It's a bird that shows itself to honorable rulers and only those that have certain qualities are chosen by it. That plus the royal flame means you are going to be somebody _big_!" explained Mushu.

And his girl Mulan was friends with someone chosen by it! There was no way they wouldn't let him become a guardian again now!

Shang...looked rather torn. Not only was "Ping" actually a woman, but apparently so was Sora. Not only that, but Sora was favored by the Feng-Huang!

At least his reputation wouldn't take too bad a hit once the full news spread.

(Mulan was very surprised by the fact the Feng-Huang let her take one of her feathers as a sign of friendship. Though she had to explain to Sora the differences between the two genders, since the keyblade wielder still didn't know what an honor it was to be chosen in the first place.)


	5. Chapter 5

"Why is Hades forcing Herc to fight so often in the Colliseum?" said Sora.

"Who knows?" said Phil. "All I know is that Herc hasn't a proper day of rest for two weeks now."

"The audience just wants to see a hero fight, right?" said Sora.

"That's what they pay for," said Phil.

"Does it have to be Hercules, or will they accept junior heroes trying to prove their mettle?" asked Sora.

Phil caught on to what she was asking.

"If you give them a good enough showing, they won't care who's fighting so long as one side is defeated," said Phil.

"Oh, I bet we can give them a good show," said Sora with confidence.

After all, how often did the spectators see a _flying_ combatant without any wings involved?

_Third POV..._

"Phil, am I imagining things or is Sora..._flying_?" asked Herc faintly.

"It's not you. For that matter who knew the kid was a girl?" said Phil.

Sora, having unusually sharp hearing, confronted Phil once the fight was over.

"Is there a problem with me being a girl?" she demanded.

"Nah, just surprised is all," said Phil.

"Yeah, there are a couple of goddesses on Olympus who are mighty warriors," said Herc.

Sora's irritation softened hearing that.

"Like who?" she asked curiously.

"Well off the top of my head, Athena and Artemis come to mind," admitted Phil.

"Who?"

"Athena, goddess of wisdom and Artemis, goddess of the moon and of the hunt," said Herc. "Athena is patron goddess of Athens."

"So you have no issue with the fact that I'm a girl that can fight?" asked Sora.

"Why would we?" asked Herc confused.

Sure, there weren't that many female warriors, but it wasn't _that_ unheard of. Besides, anyone stupid enough to believe girls couldn't fight usually had a run-in with a less than amused Athena, Artemis or even Hera.

"Usually no one takes the female fighters seriously," said Sora, a little embarrassed. It was part of the reason she hid the fact she was a girl. She didn't mind dressing up or playing with dolls, but she preferred going on adventures and mock-fighting with the boys.

"Bah, only idiots think a girl is any less of a fighter compared to a guy! It's just that the guys are more inclined to show off," said Phil dismissively. "I've trained plenty of female fighters and if it wasn't for the fact they usually fall for someone, they could have been a real contender. I remember this one chick a couple years ago...she used a blade a lot like yours. She wiped the floor with her opponents before the time limit ended!"

Sora latched on to this information.

"You've seen another Keyblade? When?" asked Sora.

"I think it was about nine, maybe ten years ago?" said Herc. "She called herself Aqua and she was pretty nice. Come to think of it, there was another person who used that strange blade during the same time period. His name was Terra."

Sora felt a strange sense of familiarity with the names. Or at least a passing one. The odd thing was she couldn't recall anyone named Aqua or Terra who used a keyblade.

Either way, Sora, Donald and Goofy all fought in the arena to give Herc a break...at least until Meg was captured by Hades.

* * *

_In the Underworld..._

"Hey Mister, what's your name?" asked Sora.

The red-eyed man gave her an odd look. Why, she had no idea, she just instinctively knew he could be trusted. Then again she had freed him from the massive ice block.

"...Xanxus."

"Why were you in that block of ice?" asked Goofy.

"My old man didn't want to own up to the fact that he had been lying to me for years, and had even lead me on about the fact that I could take over the family, so I snapped and confronted him about it. He seemed to be under the impression I was attempting a coup, so he put me in the ice," rumbled Xanxus irritably. "Where is this anyway?"

"This is Olympus Coliseum, specifically the Underworld. Hades took Meg hostage, so we're trying to get her back since Hercules is too tired from the back to back fighting," said Sora.

"...You're kidding me, right?" said Xanxus incredulous.

"You were frozen in a block of ice and somehow survived when I broke you out, and yet you're saying _my_ story sounds far fetched?" deadpanned Sora with a tad bit of snark in her voice.

To be fair, it was that time of the month.

Xanxus followed them, since he didn't have a single clue where the hell he was or what was going on. He could only stare incredulous when he saw "Hades" and "Hercules".

"The fuck? Did the Mist division decide to recreate Disney films while I was in the ice or something?!"

Because Hades and Hercules looked like the ones from the Disney films, and he had been hoping that the duck and dog were a weird coincidence. Mists could be weird as hell when bored, and it wouldn't be that far a stretch to run into one with a fascination for Disney.

However the draining feeling he got from the place and the fact he couldn't sense an ounce of Flames from anyone save the brat, who was clearly a Sky, made it hard for him to pretend it was a Mist territory.

Xanxus was irritable and he still hadn't gotten over the fact the old bastard lied to him. Which was why he had no issue whatsoever using his Wrath against these...heartless.

When they _finally_ exited the Underworld, he was tired, grumpy and was still firmly trying to figure out what the hell was going on.

"Oi, Key-brat. How much do you know about Flames?" asked Xanxus.

She felt _barely_ half-trained, and she felt way too familiar to be a coincidence.

Besides, he did sort of owe her for getting him out of that damn ice and he didn't like leaving debts unfinished.

"Not much. Barely anything outside of how to bring them out and fly really. I mean I've only been able to use them a few months...give or take a year... after Genie undid the damage he found."

Considering this place felt like a freaking Disney movie, Xanxus was going to take a wild stab and assume that "genie" was the one from the Aladdin movies.

"Damage?" rumbled Xanxus.

"I asked Genie to fix whatever was taken from me, and he said he found some sort of weird seal on me that was only use for extreme punishment eons ago. He was surprised to find it at all, and he had to fix a lot of damage because the seal was stunting my natural growth. I know mom was worried because I hadn't hit puberty, for example."

"Someone sealed your flames? How long?" asked Xanxus curtly.

"At least ten years, I think? Genie said it had been on me for a really long time... I would have been too young for me to have actually done anything to deserve it," said Sora. She crossed her arms, tilted her head and closed her eyes. "But...I remember right after going into that pod to fix my memories that something happened when I was really little. There was a strange old man with a funny ring who poked me in the head, and then I felt really, really cold and a portal of darkness opened up beneath me. That was the last thing I really recall, because somehow I must have ended up on Destiny Islands. I've been there ever since, at least until they were destroyed by the darkness."

She knew they had been remade when she defeated Ansem, but she had yet to go back. She needed to find Riku first.

Xanxus' initial suspicion that the girl was familiar only got stronger. The funny thing was that he knew for a fact he had never met the brat before today.

But...he had heard Iemitsu's account of what happened during that disastrous visit with Nono to see his wife and kid. How his daughter somehow vanished without a trace when the seal was applied, and how there wasn't even a hint of what happened to her.

Besides, the girl looked _way _too much like an Asian, female version of the Primo to be a coincidence.

"Does the name 'Sawada' mean anything to you?" asked Xanxus.

Sora scrunched her face.

"I feel like it should, but for some reason I don't know why."

"How old are you?"

Sora thought that one over.

"Fifteen, maybe sixteen? I didn't really bother to see how long we were in that pod, so I have no idea if my birthday passed or not. I was about fourteen and a half when we managed to free up all those worlds from the darkness, but I honestly have no idea what day we went in," admitted Sora.

Donald blinked.

"Now that you mention it, we never did find out exactly how long we were sleeping. Daisy must be furious!" said Donald paling.

Xanxus mentally tallied up what he knew of the missing girl. She would be about sixteen now, and finding a Sky with flames as ridiculously pure as this kid had were pretty damn rare... unless they came from an established line of them.

"Birthday?" he rumbled, mostly to confirm.

"October 14th, why?" asked Sora.

That cemented it. It had to be her, because far too many of the details lined up. Add in the fact that she looked like a clone of the Primo with breasts and Asian features, and he was absolutely certain of it.

Xanxus smirked. It would serve that fucker Iemitsu right if he was able to train his own daughter to become Varia quality before he had a chance to ruin her.

From what he saw, Sora had good instincts and absolutely no reason to care about the idea of becoming Vongola Decimo.

Which meant he could train her to be competent and find real Guardians, as opposed to the mockery his brothers had.

"Why do I sense the fact you're scheming?" asked Sora, eyes narrowed.

"If I'm right, then I know what your birth name is. Don't know why the old man tried to seal you, but I know where you come from. Means I have a chance to train you to be competent with your flames before anyone tries to ruin you as a fighter," said Xanxus. "Far too many famiglia tend to marry off the flame-active women in their line to forge alliances without bothering to train them up first."

He could tell that allowing that to happen to Sora was a complete waste. Besides, it would amuse his crazy grandmother to no end if he trained Sora up to be just as terrifying as she had been in her youth before Nono or Iemitsu tried to marry her off.

That and the mental image of Squalo training her to really use that weird sword of hers was too damn funny _not_ to set up at some point. She was barely decent as an intermediate.

Sora, as it turned out, was rather ambivalent towards the idea of actual sword training, even if Xanxus wasn't inclined to join in on the journey. To be fair, they didn't have that much room to work with but he could at least give her a series of exercises that could be downloaded onto the ship's computer.

That was only until Chip and Dale could get a working phone going, as they had been...inspired...by the model Xanxus had given them that had been in his pocket.

A bit tricky to get it working between worlds, but once they did Xanxus was going to call his own and hopefully see how his Elements were doing and how long he had been in that ice.

Sora had the distinct feeling that Xanxus was training her for his own benefit, but he didn't feel like a bad person. Just someone who was hurting for a really long time and needed someone to be there to show him how to be a good person. Or at least not a completely evil one.

Xanxus was practically the definition of an "anti-hero". He wasn't a good guy, but he wasn't a complete villain either. He was the sort of person who followed his own path and only helped the heroes when their goals happened to intersect, and wouldn't hesitate to turn on the villains if they irritated him too much.

(When Sora repeated this assessment, after leaving Xanxus with Leon and the others, the man actually blushed a little and muttered something about trash. Sora didn't dare admit she found the blush absolutely adorable.)

* * *

_In the Varia Castle..._

Squalo was pissed off. Some jackass kept trying to contact him from the switchboard and wouldn't take a hint.

"Voi, I swear to god if this is Nono again I am cutting off his balls!"

Ever since the failed coup, Xanxus had been _missing_. Nono couldn't really keep it a secret, not after Mammon was quick to have Verde hack the internal cameras of the room, but from what they could find out the Wrath had disappeared the _exact same way_ that Sawada's brat did seven years earlier. One minute the massive ice block was there, the next a strange hole of darkness appeared beneath Xanxus and the entire thing disappeared.

Squalo had enough, and was fully prepared to have Mammon track down the fucker who kept calling him only for the phone to disconnect. If only to make his irritation very clear to the asshole on the other end.

So you could imagine his shock (he nearly dropped the phone) when he heard a voice that sounded too good to be true.

"_Shark trash."_

Squalo didn't want to believe it. Xanxus had been completely missing to the point no one could find him at all for four years. Hell, the only reason Nono even _bothered_ to look was because they still hadn't found Sawada's brat after she went missing eleven years ago.

"Boss?" rasped Squalo, not daring to hope.

"_Phone is finally connecting properly. Took them forever to find a way to boost the signal considering the interference,"_ said Xanxus irritably. _"What year is it on your end? They don't have a calendar here to tell me how long it's been."_

Squalo desperately wanted to believe it was Xanxus. However he was Varia, and that meant no end of enemies.

"Tell me something only the boss would know first," he said.

"_...The night of the coup, you mentioned there might be someone feeding insider information to Sawada. We thought it might have been a CEDEF plant that got missed, but it wasn't until the field reports came in right before I challenged the old fucker that I realized it had to be Ottabio."_

Squalo wanted to cry, he really did. Only Xanxus knew about the possible traitor, but they had planned to sniff the rat out after the coup. None of them expected Nono to pull what he did, or for Xanxus to disappear off the face of the earth entirely.

"Boss...it's been a little over four years. Enrico is gone, Massimo is gone and the old fucker is planning to make Federico the heir. Daniela...she's holding on, but from what I heard she isn't going to last much longer."

Squalo could_ feel_ the bond, now that he was looking for it. The shock on the other end felt like a blessed relief after all this time without his Sky. He had no idea if Xanxus was even alive until now.

"_...I found Sawada's brat. She's the one who got me out of the ice," _said Xanxus.

"Are you sure? It's been eleven years."

"_Her name is Sora now. She had amnesia until something triggered her memories and someone removed the seal. From what we've been able to figure out, the sealing methods Nono uses causes the system that the Arcobaleno have been upholding all this time to _reject_ the victims and cast them off-world."_

"Off-world?" repeated Squalo.

He could hear the irritation in Xanxus' voice.

"_Feels like I'm in a fucking _Disney_ movie. Hell, the girl's been traveling with the crabby duck and that clueless dog with the buckteeth."_

"...Are you sure you're not in a Mist territory?"

"_Considering I've been helping them get rid of a heartless infestation for the past three weeks while a pair of chipmonks and a grumpy mechanic find a way to recreate my phone and get it to work between worlds, I highly doubt it."_

"...Did you just say _heartless?_" said Squalo with an odd note in his voice.

"_What of it?"_

"Boss...does the Sawada kid have a weird blade shaped like a key?" asked Squalo.

"_What do you know, shark-trash?" _demanded Xanxus.

"Only a little. Some game came out last year that was heavy on the Disney theme with Final Fantasy elements. Some of the newer Rains found it amusing to fight each other with fake keyblades, which the main character uses to fight monsters called 'heartless'. Bel managed to beat the game in a week and there's supposed to be a sequel next year. The entire thing is called 'Kingdom Hearts'."

_"...Is the world that Hercules and Hades are on called 'Olympus Coliseum' by any chance?"_ asked Xanxus.

"I think so. I was too busy to really pay attention to it."

"_Fuck...either some Mist thought it funny to recreate the game, or someone picked up on past events. Right now I'm on a world called Hollow Bastion and the Sawada brat rescued me from the Underworld on Olympus Coliseum,"_ said Xanxus exasperated. Hearing a beep, Xanxus realized his battery was almost dead._ "What number do I use to bypass the switchboard? Now that we know how to get past the worst of the interference I want a proper update report."_

Squalo rattled off the number to both his private phone and the conference phone in the main meeting room only accessible to officers or their direct lackeys. The phone cut off, but there was as sense of indescribable relief knowing Xanxus was alive...if stranded.

Now...how was he going to explain this to the others?


	6. Chapter 6

_On Elysian, locally known as "Earth"..._

With the revelation Xanxus not only alive, free and had found the missing Sawada girl, Mammon had practically _dragged_ Verde to the Varia to see if they couldn't trace the origin of the call. If only to find out if Xanxus was telling the truth about other worlds, or if he was trapped in a Mist illusion.

By all appearances, it really _was_ the Boss. He had information only known to him and he had the same voice and speech patterns. However it was the "other worlds" bit that was tripping them up.

If he was telling the truth, and the whole _Kingdom Hearts_ franchise was based on fact...well, the ramifications of what the Arcobaleno system was actually _for_ were completely off their original mark.

Luce had spoken about maintaining the level of 'Living Will' flames and keeping the planet going as the reason why the system existed. But even when Verde managed to devise a system to replace the pacifiers, nothing actually _happened_. They were still cursed, even with a a foolproof replacement.

With the added information of the strange holes that had taken the girl and their boss, it was possible the system existed for an entirely different reason.

Verde hated not having the proper facts, and disliked being in the body of a toddler even more.

"Everything is connected. Now all we need is for your Sky to contact us again," said Verde, pushing up his glasses.

A few days later, Xanxus did contact them. Verde was very busy using his machines to track the origin of the call.

Within minutes, his eyes were positively _manic_ as he gleefully relayed the information.

The origin didn't come from any known coordinates on Earth. Far from it... according to his tracking system it came from off-planet from an unknown source! The system couldn't calculate _where_ it was, just that it went past the atmosphere and known space.

To say Verde was ecstatic about a new avenue of science to research was putting it mildly.

"Wait...so the _Kingdom Hearts_ franchise is real?" said Lussuria confused.

"That's what the Boss said. He said that the Sawada girl...or Sora... stumbled across him in Hades' realm and got him out without knowing who he was. They dropped him off in Hollow Bastion since his 'sunny' disposition was more likely to kill their fuel supply rather than help," said Squalo snickering.

Just knowing his Sky was alive and free had taken a load off his mind.

"Ushishishi...the Gummi ship runs on smiles, and the boss never does," said Belphegor. He was already thrilled that his favorite game was real. As such he had become their unofficial expert on the subject.

"In any case, we need to find a way to help the boss get back," said Squalo. From the sound of things, "Sora" was doing just fine on her own away from the Vongola so it was unlikely they needed to drag her back. But _they_ needed their Sky. His absence was painful.

* * *

_With Sora and Xanxus..._

"So you've been in contact with your people back on your world? How does that work out?" asked Sora confused.

"Something about using half-broken Gummi parts to fix the bits that got damaged when I was frozen...it didn't help that my phone was on at the time and cold drains the battery like you wouldn't believe," said Xanxus. He was good with a forge, not with inventing something from broken parts. "How goes your training, brat?"

"Well...your advice on flames was really helpful, but I couldn't get the sword stances down like I wanted," admitted Sora.

"What about your hand to hand? You've said before that you've had your weapon taken from you once already and it never hurts to have a back-up that doesn't rely on flames," asked Xanxus.

"Yeah, the adults never let us actually _fight_ with our bare fists. They always broke us up before we got any real practice in it...swords they ignored for some reason," admitted Sora.

That had never made sense to her, the fact that they always broke them up before they could fight with their fists, yet turned a blind eye to the play swords they had.

"Let's see your stance then," said Xanxus. "No blade."

He didn't really mess around with hand to hand, but he knew a few basic styles...especially Muy Thai, which he sometimes practice to bond with Lussuria on occasion out of boredom. It certainly made his Sun happy.

From what he saw, Sora was a natural at hand to hand. Very rough around the edges, but she definitely picked up the few basics he shared with her rather quickly. She was competent with a sword, but her style was more something she learned from fighting constantly with the heartless rather than a natural aptitude.

It made him wonder how she would handle a gun, before he curtailed that thought. She was dangerous enough with her magic and her instinctual flame use...besides, from what he saw it would be impossible to get her an actual gun to practice with, never mind have a decent enough supply of bullets to make the effort worth it.

He could still train her accuracy with her magic blasts.

So it took Xanxus a good twenty minutes before Sora slipped up and called him something that had him doing a slight doubletake.

"What did you call me?"

"Nii-san?" she said confused. "I mean you remind me a lot of Riku, except I don't get a romantic vibe from you but more of a grumpy, overprotective big brother one."

Riku always had that reliable "big brother" vibe, except Sora had realized that her feelings were more "romantic" than "familial".

She had high hopes Riku had similar feelings for her, even if they never did get a chance to find out directly. After all, Riku made it clear he only saw Kairi as a 'sister', not as a girlfriend and had seemed relieved hearing Sora felt the same about her.

Xanxus had a rather interesting look on his face. Still Sora counted it as a win when he ruffled her hair with a gruff expression on his face and a slight blush.

"I suppose I could do worse for a 'little sister'. At least you're not complete trash like half the idiots I used to deal with," he said.

Sora beamed at him.

* * *

This was it. Verde had found a way to hopefully transport someone to whereever Xanxus was, and by process of elimination they had elected Squalo. Out of all of them, he was suffering the most from Xanxus being missing, and from what they had ascertained from the games, this Sora would likely benefit from Squalo's experience using a sword.

Besides, Squalo was starting to develop ulcers from having to deal with Nono, who had become absolutely _intolerable_ of late. Apparently he heard from that rat Ottabio that the Varia was up to something big, and wanted to make very sure it wasn't another attempt at a coup.

If Squalo had to deal with that senile old bastard one more time, or worse _Iemitsu_, he was going on a rampage. Besides, it meant he could drag the puppy apprentice he had picked up last time in Japan.

Takeshi was a brat who treated everything like a game, but he had damn good instincts and it was luck that Squalo had gotten to him first considering Iemitsu had been trying to convince his estranged wife from divorcing him and claiming custody of their two other children since she had enough of his bullshit.

There was no telling what sort of damage Iemitsu's crap would have inflicted on the puppy's psyche considering the kid had been damn near suicidal when Squalo stumbled across him.

Either way the puppy was competent enough to stay alive until Squalo found his ass again if they got seperated.

"Just so we're clear, this trip might very well be one-way. Whatever interference is in place only allows people to leave, but not come back. Unless we figure out how to deal with that you're going to be stuck," said Verde flatly.

"Voi...so long as we can reach the boss, we'll find a way back. If not...then you can follow us after once you've found replacements," said Squalo.

It would be awkward, but he would rather be with his Sky then deal with the Vongola's bullshit and not have Xanxus there.

Even if it meant leaving everything behind.

Squalo and Takeshi make it through the portal safely, armed with enough survival gear to survive damn near anything and an absurd number of weapons...especially the bladed variety.

The thrill of success is short lived...as the Man in the Iron Hat appears looking very pissed off.

"It was bad enough when that fool of the Vongola started banishing people from this world by sealing their hearts. The last thing I want to deal with is you fools deliberately weakening the seal I placed on this world to keep the darkness out!" he snarled.

Before Viper or Verde could respond, the man who cursed them caused their pacifiers to wrack their bodies in absolute agony.

"Let this be a lesson to you...every time anything comes or goes between worlds, you and the others will suffer until the time limit is up. I will not tolerate any further foolishness."

"What about phone calls?" asked Lussuria unhappily. They had only gotten their Sky back, even if they couldn't see him. Being cut off completely wasn't fair at all!

"...Transmissions such as video and voice are acceptable, but no one is allowed to traverse between this world and others, or to send items without going through me first. I put that seal in place for a _reason_," he conceded.

Phone calls wouldn't damage the seal, but people leaving would.

Viper whimpered.

"How...do we break this seal?"

"Your sacrifice is key to keeping the darkness from overwhelming this world. A last 'safe haven' if you will. The only way to unlock the seal without killing anyone else would be if a keyblade master with a heart of pure light were to use their power to remove it."

"...You mean like if a princess of heart were to become a keyblade master?" asked Belphegor.

"The odds of that happening are so low it's not worth mentioning," he scoffed.

Either way the warning had been given.

* * *

The first thing Squalo and Takeshi saw, upon waking up...was a duck and a dog looking at them with concern.

The next thing, and this was the part Squalo focused intently on, was Xanxus.

"Voi! Stop laughing dammit!"

Xanxus was outright _cackling_ over the fact that Squalo had landed on his ass on top of his apprentice in such an embarrassing manner.

"How did you get here, shark trash?" asked Xanxus.

"Verde, with a lot of help from Mammon," said Squalo. His phone began to ring. "Voi! What is it? What?"

Squalo paled and put the phone on speaker. It was considerably more advanced compared to the one Xanxus had since sacrificed to Cid and the chipmunk duo since Squalo said he would be bringing a replacement.

"_Boss, the Man in the Iron Hat made an appearance right after Squ-chan and his puppy went through the portal,"_ said Luss._ "He said that the pacifiers would lash out against the Arcobaleno if anyone else is sent, but calls back to home are allowed. We can't send anything else without going through him first, and since no one knows how to contact him..."_

"Is the miser-trash alright?"

"_Mammon and Verde will live, but there's no telling how the other are fairing,"_ reported Lussuria. _"He did say something about the requirements for removing the pacifiers without killing them though."_

"What requirements?" asked Squalo.

"_Something about a keyblade master with a heart of pure light,"_ said Lussuria.

King Mickey, who happened to be listening in, winced.

Xanxus noticed his reaction.

"Exactly how rare are keyblade masters?"

"The last one to be given the Mark of Mastery was Master Aqua, and she went missing almost a decade ago. Aside from myself, there are no other Masters," said Mickey.

"What about Yen Sid?" asked Sora.

"He no longer has the ability to use the keyblade and Master Eraqus was killed around the same time Master Aqua went missing. While Xehanort is a Master, his 'self' has been so distorted it's a miracle he can even use the keyblade at all," said Mickey.

"Mark of Mastery?" said Sora.

"There are many keyblade wielders, but only the very best are acknowledged as Masters," said Mickey. "You're still young, but in order to be acknowledged as a Master you must pass a test by someone who already has the Mark."

"So...what are you guys doing here anyway?" asked Takeshi.

"We're about to deal with a massive heartless infestation," said Sora, putting aside the mention of Mastery.

"Shark trash, what's with the puppy?" asked Xanxus.

"Apprentice. Good Rain with a solid skill in swords," said Squalo succinctly. "Couldn't bring any of the other officers with me, so I brought him instead."

"Can we help?" asked Takeshi, smiling in a way that didn't reach his eyes.

"Well, we did notice that heartless are vulnerable to flames..." said Sora. "Think you can keep up?"

"Haha...sounds like fun!" said Takeshi.

(Squalo took one look at the way Takeshi was acting around Sora and just _knew_ the girl was his puppy's Sky.)

The Rain watched how Sora fought, and grimaced.

"She needs a lot of work... her sword skill is very sloppy."

"Self-taught, with no real instruction. Besides, she has a higher talent for martial arts and natural flame use without amplifiers," said Xanxus gruffly. "Sora used to be a _lot_ worse."

Squalo caught the obvious fondness in his tone and slotted Sora in the "ally category".


	7. Chapter 7

"When we find Riku, I am giving him _such_ a tongue-lashing," swore Sora. She had the worst feeling he had been up to a great deal of mischief while she was asleep and needed a reminder not to be an idiot again.

"Hyuk. You really like Riku, don't you Sora?" asked Goofy.

Sora blushed.

"Yeah, I do. He's a big idiot sometimes, but I really care about him," said Sora.

"Hehe...Sounds like someone has a crush," said Takeshi.

"Shut up!" said Sora blushing.

Takeshi snickered.

"Is your teacher okay with you following us?" asked Mickey.

"Squalo-sensei is busy reconnecting with the Boss, besides he's of the opinion that if I intend to go off on adventures then I had better be ready to get myself out of any trouble I fall into," said Takeshi unconcerned.

Squalo trained his apprentice hard, and if he was foolish enough to get into trouble, then he fully expected his apprentice to have the brains to get himself out of it. He had given Takeshi a long, painful lecture the one time he had to bail the young idiot out of jail.

Takeshi hadn't thought twice about following Sora and her group through the portal. There was some sort of strange feeling that told him he should follow her lead.

When Sora disappeared for a few minutes, Donald and Goofy continued walking on unworried. It happened often enough and Sora never really came to harm so they knew she would be fine. King Mickey, who trusted his long-time friends, followed their lead and continued on.

Takeshi laughed, unconcerned.

"So she does this often then?"

"Like you wouldn't believe!" said Donald exasperated.

"Hyuk! Sora has a tendency to wander off, but she always brings things back like treasure or new friends," said Goofy.

"When we were in the Underworld, she took us to this massive block of ice with a _person_ inside," complained Donald. "It was completely off the beaten path and took an entire ten minutes off our trip!"

Takeshi mentally added another tally to the theory Squalo and Xanxus had that Sora was actually the missing Sawada Setsuna. From what they were saying it sounded like she had the Vongola Hyper Intuition in _spades_. Not that they had any doubts, considering she looked like a female Giotto Vongola (from the portraits of him anyway), but it was nice to have extra confirmation.

Sora returned looking a bit lighter-hearted, but still annoyed with Riku.

Apparently something had happened, but she wasn't going to talk about it with them.

"So Takeshi, what sort of foods do you like?" asked Sora.

"Well, my dad retired to become a sushi chef and I know a lot of the basics so I can make a decent hand-rolled sushi...which made Mammon very happy since it cut back on having to order out and it's a decent hobby for a Varia member to have since I can keep my squad fed on assignments."

"What's sushi?" asked Donald.

"It's basically raw fish sliced a certain way on specially made rice with vegetables and seaweed," said Takeshi.

"Better not suggest that sort of thing to Ariel then. Or Flounder," quipped Sora with a grin. Donald snorted at that.

Takeshi had been briefed on the odd parallels with "Disney" and the worlds they might encounter and had been subjected to a movie marathon by all the movies made by that particular company with Squalo who needed the refresher.

Though Squalo had been more interested in challenging that odd silver-haired man with a lone wing who bore a striking resemblance to him (only much quieter) to care about the heartless attack once they went in to help.

It took him a while before he realized there were some _Final Fantasy VII_ characters on other worlds as well. He had quietly snickered when he realized why Squalo seemed irritable with one of the most iconic villains from the Final Fantasy franchise.

"You mean the mermaid world, right?" asked Takeshi, trying to remember that film. He preferred Studio Ghibli over Disney, to be honest.

"Yeah...that was the world where Donald and Goofy were first clued into the fact I was a girl and not a guy like they were assuming," snickered Sora.

Takeshi snickered as well. He could imagine, seeing as how the guy mermaids didn't wear shirts form what he saw and all the female mermaids had shell bras.

"What about the world with lions, hyuk? We still didn't get a clear answer on what cat you turned into," Goofy reminded her.

"Even Simba and Nala were confused, since they had never seen a great cat that had roughly the same shape as a lion except with stripes and a slightly different roar," said Sora.

Takeshi blinked.

"Orange and black stripes, but clearly a large predatory cat?" he asked. Sora nodded. "Sounds like you turned into a tiger. I know there are instances when a male lion gets a tiger pregnant, resulting in an unstable crossbreed known as a liger."

"Unstable?" said Sora.

"It's not uncommon for such hybrids to be born sterile," said Takeshi. Seeing the looks he got, he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "The Varia _technically_ doubles as a cat sanctuary for legal purposes. We find exotic animals all the time on jobs and if they can't be relocated we bring them back to the castle where they're given an area all to themselves. Especially those raised in captivity and are unable to return to the wilds."

"Huh," said Sora, clearly impressed. At least they knew what cat she turned into now.

"It's part of the chore rotation for all mooks and the occasional apprentice. Every time I make sushi I usually go to the sanctuary area and let them have at the parts of the fish I don't use. The irony being that I'm more of a dog person and yet all the cats seem to love me on sight," said Takeshi.

"Looks like we're here," said Sora. "Now, how exactly do we get up to the castle?"

Her keyblade jerked up in her grip, and on a hunch she leveled it at the castle. A path of light formed, leading straight up to the opening they could see.

Right. Time to rescue Riku and Kairi!

* * *

_Riku's POV_

When he felt Sora hug him (and he knew it was Sora from the bright warmth he felt in his heart), he almost missed the oddity.

However when he pulled back enough to look at her, he could help but gape.

"Sora...you're a girl?" he asked in complete bafflement.

Kairi wasn't much better, but then she remembered Sora's throwaway comment about how their friend's yaoi pairing would never come to pass and suddenly it made perfect sense.

"Of course I'm a girl! Just because I'm not into the same frilly stuff Kairi and the others were doesn't make me any less a girl!" said Sora annoyed. "And you! How many times are you going to play the bad guy because you're too foolish not to ask for help?!"

"You're a really late bloomer, aren't you Sora?" commented Kairi.

"Mom was planning to take me to the doctor because of it, had the islands not been destroyed," said Sora without hesitating. "Apparently my chest developed while I was in that pod getting my memories back, but it meant I had to deal with the changes all at once instead of a gradual thing. You have no idea how annoying it was trying to figure out what my schedule was without any...accidents."

Kairi looked more sympathetic than amused hearing that.

"I bet. That change is always awkward and you had it the end results dumped on you without any chance to adjust from the sounds of it."

"Can we go back to the fact Sora is a girl? And what happened to your hair? I saw you the day before you left that pod and it was still as spiky as ever, and now..." said Riku befuddled.

Sora grew an annoyed expression, she couldn't help it.

"The three good fairies from the world Maleficent originated on gave me a new outfit. However as a consequence the magic also affected my hair making it impossible to cut short," said Sora. "And by that I mean every time I try to get a hair cut, it simply grows back... I simply gave up and asked Aerith for some hair ties to keep it out of my face, at least until the magic wears off."

Riku was having a very hard time not blushing... between the fact Sora's bust was starting to properly develop and the long hair, it was hard to avoid staring. Mostly because when Sora pouted she looked _ridiculously_ cute and made him extremely possessive of her.

It made him wonder what Sora would look like in a dress and actual female clothing, before he forcibly derailed the thought.

The last thing he needed was to explain why he had a boner and a possible nosebleed when they had a major fight about to happen. He could explore his feelings for Sora in a more thorough setting once the issue was dealt with.

From what he could tell though, his romantic feelings for him..._her_ (he was going to have to get used to that)...were definitely reciprocated if the way she was scolding him was any indication.

There was one detail he wanted clarified though, for his own peace of mind.

"Who's the swordsman?" asked Riku.

Takeshi grinned at him, a hint of strange camaraderie in his eyes. There was something about the eyes that bothered the hell out of Riku though. He couldn't place what but he knew the other boy was a lot more dangerous than he liked and had killed others before.

"His name is Takeshi... he comes from the same world I was born on, but was somehow ejected from," said Sora.

Riku stared.

"Say what now?"

"From what we've been able to piece together, the head of the family I belonged to placed an archaic and forgotten seal on me when I was five, but there is some sort of shield around that world that ejects anyone who is at high risk of turning into a heartless. As a result it sent me away, but the Dark Corridor somehow dropped me on Destiny Islands while the fragments of my heart scattered and awakened those with the highest potential of acting as my protectors," said Sora exasperated. "You know that purple fire that you can use? The fragment of my heart gave you the ability to awaken it once you were given the right push for it come out."

Seeing Riku was still confused, Takeshi tried to explain. He hadn't understood it that well either, but he got the gist of it from Squalo.

"The head of the family tried to seal her natural ability away, which messed with her soul and would have sealed away her heart so that it couldn't function properly. However there is a system in place that was created to prevent heartless, so it mistook her for one and banished her from that world. The trauma of being sent through that corridor caused parts of her heart to scatter and settle into others who were roughly on the same spiritual wave-length as her," said Takeshi.

That seemed to clear up the worst of Riku's confusion. No doubt he would make sense of the whole thing once he talked to Xanxus or Squalo.

In the end, the bad guy was defeated...again. Riku and Sora were finallyreunited and they thought things would settle back into something close to normal...just with combat lessons.

And then...they reached Destiny Islands.

* * *

Riku was going with Sora, mostly to check up on their parents before he took her out on a possible date. By all appearances, it looked like they could safely go from friends to "dating" within a few days after reassuring each other that their boyfriend/girlfriend wasn't going to vanish off for parts unknown while the other had to catch up_ again_.

To be honest Riku could care less about his parents. They were adults, they could handle themselves and he had been chomping at the bit (metaphorically speaking) for years now to explore other worlds.

Fortunately Sora had found that the magic had worn off enough that she could cut her hair to roughly chin length and it wouldn't automatically regrow in five minutes to just above her waist. While she had become more or less resigned to having long hair, that didn't mean she liked it _that_ long.

Riku went to walk right in as he normally did, only to pause at the confusion on the faces of the adults.

They looked like Sora's parents, so why did they look baffled as to why he walked in like he lived there? Surely they were used to it, since Sora and Riku crashed at each other's homes all the time as kids.

(They probably couldn't do that now, since Sora had hit puberty, but they shouldn't have looked so surprised to see him in the house.)

And then Sora walked in and her mother said something that made her world crash around her.

"Are you a friend of Riku's?" asked her mother, completely oblivious to the fact she was talking to her own daughter.

_An hour later..._

Kairi was beyond horrified when she heard what happened. Not only did Sora's parents_ not_ recognize her, but it was as if all memory of having a daughter had been erased. Worse, only a handful of people even remembered Sora as their child, and they were equally confused as to what was going on because they found friends and neighbors suffering a sort of bizarre collective amnesia.

All of their friends, save for Kairi and Riku, had no idea Sora had lived with them for the majority of their life. Oh, they remembered _someone_ had been close friends with Riku and Kairi, but specifics like a name and what they looked like were blurred to the point it was impossible to make a positive ID.

What had at first seemed like a case of a minor mistake regarding gender was becoming more serious.

"How could this have happened?" asked Kairi, hugging a distraught Sora.

"...I may have a theory, but I'm hoping I'm wrong," said Riku grimly.

Sora looked at him.

"Remember that year you spent in the pods regaining your memory, while Roxas was holding on to them and Naminé was busy trying to restore them to the proper place?" asked Riku. Sora nodded. "What if in the process of returning the memories, some of them were lost or scrambled to the point the details were forgotten? I mean Sora _did_ say she regained a few memories from before she was five, including that language none of us recognize."

"It's called Japanese. I asked, and Xanxus said that was my native language before I was ejected," said Sora.

"So you're saying Naminé accidentally erased the memories of Sora from our island?"

"Or at least scrambled them to the point the adults and most of the kids don't recognize her at all. I mean let's face it, we spent more time with her than anyone else _and_ we were off-world for the most part when the memory alteration happened. Even _you_ forgot about Sora when she had to have them returned until you somehow came in contact with Roxas," said Riku. "It really doesn't help that we all thought she was a boy or that she developed into her more feminine qualities all at once while she was asleep. She's such a tomboy that she might have subconciously influenced everyone into believing the Sora from our island _was_ a boy."

Sora looked absolutely miserable. Not only could she not go home, but no one remembered her properly at all which just made things unspeakably awkward.

Rather than make her deal with that, Riku promptly bundled Sora up and lead her through the corridor to Hollow Bastion.

At least there she had a decent support network and people who could help her work through this while they figured out what to do.


	8. Chapter 8

Xanxus listened to the story of the three teens, and showed some degree of sympathy for Sora's plight.

Having her family and friends suddenly forget she existed was pretty bad. However when he heard a description of what Naminé could do, he didn't seem overly surprised.

"Sounds like she had an unstable Mist flame. It's not impossible that her control slipped and caused this if only by accident. People on Earth have a rather long-standing distrust of Mists for reasons just like this."

"Why was Kairi protected? I mean it only took her a few minutes for her to remember Sora and their past together but everyone else thought she was a random stranger who shared the same name as a kid who used to live on the island," asked Riku.

"You said that Naminé was Kairi's Nobody, right?" said Squalo.

"From what we know about her, yes," said Riku.

"It's possible Kairi was immune partially due to the fact she has a Keyblade as well, and the fact that technically Naminé is part of Kairi," said Squalo. "Not to mention the fact she had been holding part of Sora's heart all this time and was even able to connect on a psychic level with Sora's Nobody Roxas."

Sora was still rather unhappy, but it sounded like a reasonable explanation for why Kairi remembered her when everyone else didn't.

"Is there any way to reverse it?"

"You're almost old enough to strike out on your own. It might be possible to fix the damage later, but at this point considering what you've been doing to earn a living you might be better off living away from the Islands anyway," said Xanxus bluntly. "After all, living in Hollow Bastion gives you better access to other worlds and better training, and means you'll have a head's up the next time that nut job or Maleficent shows up again to try something."

"I know you hate the fact your parents don't remember you, but this does give you a chance to connect with your birth parents once we find a way to access that world," said Riku.

Xanxus and Squalo made identical faces, mostly at the thought of Sora coming into contact with Iemitsu.

"What's that face for?" asked Sora.

"Let's just say your old man isn't someone I would encourage an impressionable young woman to be around," said Squalo tactfully.

"He's a fucking idiot who pretends he loves his wife and kids, but in reality he has a bad habit of hiring escorts for the balls and parties and rarely wears his wedding ring. He claims he doesn't want his family to be involved, but the truth is he doesn't want to deal with actually being supportive of another person, let alone act responsible for his kids. I'm pretty sure _he's_ the reason the old fucker sealed you in the first place, because you went active during that visit and Iemitsu would have to waste _his_ time training you if he brought you into the family properly," said Xanxus.

"What about my mother?"

"Civilian, has two other children and as far as I know is still in denial about the fact Iemitsu only married her because he's Catholic and needed to continue the bloodline with _legitimate_ children," said Squalo bluntly.

"What's Catholic?" said Sora confused. Riku and Kairi were equally baffled.

Xanxus and Squalo stared at them, just a little.

"Does your island or any of the worlds you visit have something called 'religion'?" asked Xanxus slowly.

"Not that I know of," said Riku.

"What's religion?" asked Kairi baffled.

"It's hard to explain," said Squalo quickly. "But the gist is that people rally together to practice a centralized belief in a higher power and pray together."

"Oh, so similar to what they do on Olympus Coliseum where they make an offering to Zeus and the other gods on Olympus," said Sora in realization.

"Close enough," said Xanxus. "Except Catholics don't have any ability to actually _contact_ God beyond prayer and faith that he exists, unlike the Greeks who can get a response within a short period of time."

None of the trio understood why the concept was so important, but accepted that it was to Xanxus and Squalo and let it drop. The two adults did the same if only to avoid any further headaches like explaining about God and why they believed in him.

"In any case, we're going to need to get Sora settled in here."

"That's the easy part, actually," said Sora. "Aerith said she'd be willing to claim I'm her cousin who recently managed to find her again and help me get enrolled in the local school. And that I could help out part time at a bar that one of her friends owns. Tifa also agreed to teach me martial arts, since I'll be practicing with Squalo in between culling the heartless population and doing the odd mission for the King on the side."

Sora might still be in shock, but she had always been good at keeping her mind focused on the task at hand, at least until she had a chance to look back and reflect on things. Otherwise she never would have gotten so far when the Islands were originally lost.

Right now there was nothing she could do to help her parents remember her. She had accepted that fact.

What she could do was try to settle into a new normal until options became available to fix things.

* * *

_Three months later..._

Outside of the fact she had to relocate to Radiant Garden, Sora was adjusting fairly well. Riku became a regular visitor, as did Kairi.

Sora was rather pleased that her skill at actually _using_ the keyblade like a sword had vastly improved, and that Takeshi had firmly settled into the 'older brother' category...much to the relief of Riku who almost felt jealous at the thought of competition.

That was another major change in her life... Sora could now officially state she had a _boyfriend_.

Their dates had been slightly awkward at first, as Riku had trouble keeping his eyes off her and she wasn't used to him noticing her like that. Fortunately he was enough of a gentleman to keep his hands to himself until she was ready for it.

Sora still blushed at the fact they had moved past holding hands to her actually cuddling on his lap. More than once she had found herself napping on his shoulder.

She looked at the time on her watch...she was going to be late for her shift.

"Hey Sora. How was school?" asked Tifa.

She ran the bar "Seventh Heaven" since she finally located her friend Cloud. Just knowing he was alright took a load off her mind, even if his wanderlust made it impossible for him to stay put. So long as he checked in regularly, she didn't mind though.

"It was the same as always. Good thing Xanxus and Riku are really smart, otherwise it would have taken forever to catch up with the two years I lost," said Sora. She went into the back and put on her apron.

Working as a waitress was weird, but fun. It certainly helped to earn a living since the King only called her for missions occasionally and the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee was more of a volunteer sort of thing.

Besides, on the days the bar was closed Tifa would teach Sora how to fight without using her keyblade. She knew most of the basics, but it saved a lot of time and allowed Xanxus to refine what he knew on the subject and improve her ability to use her Flames without a conduit to help her.

Very few bothered to learn how to fine-tune their powers, and most only used the really flashy ones that wasted time and energy.

* * *

_On Earth..._

"So let me get this straight... the reason we were all mysteriously punished by these damn pacifiers...is because you idiots sent that loudmouth swordsman and his apprentice to another _world_?" said Reborn irate.

"Apparently the pacifiers are part of a seal that keeps this world 'protected' by creatures known as Heartless and Nobodies," said Viper.

"...You mean the monsters out of _Kingdom Hearts_?" said Skull.

"Yes," said Verde. "From what we've been able to ascertain thanks to someone by the name of Master Yen Sid, the Man in the Iron Hat is an ex-Keyblade master who's been using his powers to keep this world sealed off using the Tri-Ni-Sette."

"Are you serious?" asked Reborn incredulous.

"Do you really think we would make up something like this? Or that we would know that sending Squalo and his apprentice to the Boss would trigger an appearance from _him _on top of the pacifier's going berserk?" said Viper irritably.

Reborn conceded their point. None of them had ever thought that would happen after the curse. Besides, Verde and Viper weren't the sort of people who were inclined to "flights of fancy". If they said the whole _Kingdom Hearts_ franchise was real, then there was a strong chance it was or that they honestly believe it was.

"How did you find your Boss?" asked Fon.

"Apparently, Sawada's missing daughter stumbled across him and he found someone who was able to repair his cell phone and give it the ability to reach home," said Viper.

"You mean they actually found her?!" said Lal in shock. Everyone just assumed the kid was dead already.

"From what we've been told, there's a fail-safe in the Arcobaleno system that basically removed her from Earth because of the seal," said Verde, pushing up his glasses.

Verde brought up his laptop and made a sphere with a second one around it.

"Imagine this is Earth, and the second circle is the barrier _that_ man put in place using the Tri-Ni-Sette. Whatever seal the Ninth used on the girl caused the barrier to mistake her as a virus, and so it purged her from the planet," said Verde.

"So what do we do now?" asked Skull. He didn't _like_ the way the pacifier lashed out at them like that.

"Now we wait until we figure out a way to disable the barrier," said Verde. "From what _that_ man has said, if we permanently disable it, then the pacifiers will come off as well."

"So you're saying if we find a way to get your boss back without these accursed things lashing out at us, that we'll be free?" said Reborn sharply.

"Yes. Unfortunately there is no way for us to remove the pacifiers on our own and I have no idea what the requirements are to even begin to acquire the item needed to do it for us," said Verde irritably.

"What do you mean?" asked Fon.

"We require a 'keyblade' and someone with a Mastery over it with a 'pure heart of light'," quoted Verde.

"...So basically we're screwed unless a Princess of Light somehow obtains a keyblade and becomes skilled enough to obtain the title of Master?" said Skull.

"Princess of Light?" repeated Lal.

Skull snickered.

"Belle, Jasmine, Alice, Cinderella, Snow White, Aurora and Kairi."

"...I recognize all but the last one," said Reborn. He might not be a fan of the Disney franchise, but he recongize the names of iconic 'princesses' that had been made into movies.

"Kairi is an exclusive Princess in the _Kingdom Hearts_ franchise and is considered the 'love interest' of sorts for the main character," said Skull.

"I find that hard to believe, considering Setsuna is known as Sora, and Xanxus has made it clear that her boyfriend Riku is also her Cloud Guardian," said Viper.

Skull was practically vibrating with glee.

"Sora is the name of the main character of the franchise, and Riku was his rival!" said Skull.

What can he say, he's a game otaku. And he loved the _Kingdom Hearts_ game, having spent countless hours beating it on expert.

* * *

"So you're saying that the other pods in the mansion have people inside?" asked Sora.

Riku had decided to take her out on a date in Twilight Town, mostly to get some ice cream.

He also decided to clue Sora in to the pods...specifically the fact that at least one of them was occupied.

"Is that a progress bar?" said Sora baffled.

Riku squinted.

"I think so. Weird."

Sora tried to look inside, but the glass was pretty fogged up and no amount of wiping cleared it up. However she had the sensation of 'sunshine', 'rain/fog' from the two closest to her, and possibly 'electricity' from the one on the far end.

They walked towards where the computers were, and Riku easily entered the password. He had seen Diz enter it plenty of times after all, so he knew it.

"It's definitely a progress bar. What the heck is in those things?" asked Sora.

Riku tapped a few keys...and stared.

"It looks like...people," said Riku.

"How do you work this thing?" asked Sora.

"You can barely work the Gummi ship without crashing," deadpanned Riku. He started messing around with the sensors, and a vague outline of the pods contents came up. "Okay, it looks like four, not three of the pods are in use. One of the signals within was so faint that it almost wasn't picked up by the sensors at all. All four of the pods are giving off weird readings."

"I think the people who are inside are Active. Like us."

"You mean soul fire?" asked Riku, blinking.

"I could sense it. One of the pods was giving off a feeling of 'sunshine', another was giving off a 'rainy' feel that reminded me strongly of Takeshi. The one farthest from us almost felt like electricity though," said Sora.

"That might explain some of the readings," said Riku. He looked thoughtful. "I wonder..."

He started tapping a few more keys. Certain screens popped up, and what looked like dates and times.

"I knew it."

"What?" asked Sora.

"The dates line up to a general time frame. For example this one..." Riku tapped the one with the most 'progress', "Was filled roughly the same day Roxas first returned to you and the progress bar jumped up quite a bit around the same day this one (he tapped the most recent and the lowest filled bar) was suddenly occupied."

"Wait, are you saying these pods contain...?" started Sora, staring.

"I think this one (he pointed to the one with the bar almost half-full) contains Roxas. This one might contain Naminé. I have no idea who's in the other two though," said Riku.

Sora latched on the one with Naminé within...or what they thought might be her.

"Do you think once the bar is filled, we can wake them up?"

"It's possible. Then again we have no idea what is really in there or how they got in there in the first place. But if that is Naminé, then maybe she can fix the damage to your parent's minds," said Riku.

It was more hope than she had six months ago.


	9. Chapter 9

"Any idea what this about?" asked Sora.

"No idea...but it must be big if the King brought us here," said Riku.

In the past two years, Sora had fully settled into her body. It didn't hurt that Riku was more than willing to take it slow before they finally moved into a more physical relationship.

The first time had been utterly terrifying and nerve-wracking, but it didn't take long before they were going at it almost like bunnies.

Aerith and Yuffie had a good, long laugh when they realized Sora had started emulating Tifa's style when it came to clothes and the way she styled her hair. It didn't take much for Tifa to practically adopt Sora as a little sister.

Riku had changed as well. Ever since he started dating Sora, he became far more relaxed and less likely to pull what Sora liked to call "stupid stunts" like following Maleficent.

From what Xanxus was able to tell, Riku was firmly a Cloud. That meant he liked to drift from place to place and tended to act as a lone wolf. The fact that he was the first Guardian Sora called to her once her flames were freed said a lot.

The irony was that Riku's "territory" as the two older men called it, also happened to _be_ his Sky. Once he staked his claim on Sora in a way no one would be able to take from him, he settled down almost immediately and became much more relaxed.

Both of them were a little confused as to why Master Yen Sid had requested them. Outside of their dates on other worlds, in which they kept their presence very low key and only went after heartless if they were attacked, they didn't really interfere with other worlds.

Then Yen Sid said something that had both of them stand a little straighter in shock.

"You're recommending us to take the Mark of Mastery exam?" said Sora. "I thought you needed years of training for that sort of thing?"

"Under normal circumstances, that would be the case. However the two of you have shown a remarkable aptitude for growing stronger while actively fighting. There is also the matter of the sealed world Mickey has told me about...it concerns me that one of the ancient masters would go so far as to sacrifice others in order to seal off an entire world from the darkness," said Yen Sid.

"...So basically you want to see if either of us can successfully complete the exam for the boost it would give our abilities, particularly since there are so few active Keyblade users at this time," summed up Sora.

"Xenanort's behavior is troubling, and he has been remarkably quiet of late. Having another Master to stand against him would only aid in our efforts to put an end to his plans," said Yen Sid.

"What exactly do we have to do?" asked Riku frowning.

"There are a series of sleeping worlds. Your task will be to awaken them and bring forth the power that has been laying dormant since they were overtaken by the darkness. If you successfully manage to acquire this ability, I will name you as Masters. There is no shame in failure, however...sometimes it takes a few years before a keyblade wielder is ready to obtain a Mastery," said Yen Sid.

Sora looked to King Mickey.

"How many tries did it take for you to obtain your mastery?" she asked him.

Mickey looked a tad abashed.

"I had to take the exam twice. Master Yen Sid gave it to me when I thought I had learned enough, but I needed a lot of improvement before I could try again," he admitted.

"So, we just need to awaken the sleeping worlds?" asked Sora.

"If you successfully complete the exam, there is a high chance you may be able to free the hidden world that you originate from Sora," said Master Yen Sid.

Considering Sora was a potential Princess of Light, that meant if she was able to obtain the powers of a Keyblade Master, she would have all the power required to release that world from that dreadful curse the former Master had placed upon it.

Before they were to leave, the two went to see the fairies. The enchantments on their clothing had long since dispelled, though Sora had updated her wardrobe since the incident.

Her outfit changed very little, save for the fact that the skirt swished a bit more and the coat tied around her waist was adjusted to fit her better.

She had taken the extra coats they had borrowed (read: stolen) from the World That Never Was to make her new battle outfit, since the one the fairies had given her at fifteen no longer fit at all.

It was also the reason why Aerith and Yuffie had a bit of good natured ribbing at Tifa's expense, as the new outfit heavily resembled the one the martial artist favored.

Her combat boots became a bit more feminine, and her hair was placed in a loose braid that went down her left shoulder.

Riku's outfit became a bit more mature, and the enchantments were placed on it to match Sora. Outside of straightening his hair, and some of it had split ends, there was very little difference.

On both of their sides was a small pouch with a special charm...it held their potions, elixirs, and the newest addition to their arsenal, a special cell phone that could reach between worlds and even into the Corridor of Darkness.

With the help of Squalo, who had long since donated the most recent smart phone from his world to the chipmunks and Cid, they were able to recreate the device and modify parts that were too outdated to be used on the standard Gummi ships so that it had a very wide reception range.

Sora's background was of the two of them on Destiny Islands, when Sora managed to knock Riku into the ocean during a sparring match and Kairi was quick enough to take a picture of Riku's shocked expression... right before Riku retaliated by picking Sora up and dumping _her _into the ocean. It sparked an epic water fight which had them all laughing like old times.

Riku's background was of an outfit that he really loved seeing on Sora. It was a white dress that suited her so well he had trouble keeping his hands off her, to the amusement of the older girls. The picture was of her dressed up and making it impossible for anyone to mistake her as a boy right before a date.

(Riku had been unbearably smug, because Sora had gotten a day off and came to visit him on the islands for their date. Kairi had laughed herself to hiccups, because some of the girls hadn't believed Riku when he said he already had a girlfriend and had been bothering him for weeks about her. Sora's appearance and the rather impressive kiss Riku had given her when he spotted her at the entrance had shut them all up rather effectively.)

Once they were suitably outfitted for a quest, Master Yen Sid sent them to Destiny Islands before they were overtaken by the Darkness.

Sora was tempted to find her parents, but held herself back. It wouldn't help at this point, and there was no telling if seeing them would prevent their strange amnesia.

Perhaps once they finished this test, they could awaken Naminé. Neither of them had been back to the mansion recently, but the progress bars on the pods were close to filled the last time they were there. The one they believed contained Roxas, for example, was filled first and seemed to be waiting for the command to open the pod and wake him up.

At this point though, even if they _did_ regain their memories there was little point to return save for short visits. After all, Sora was almost a legal adult and had long since become self-sufficient in her life. She was a part-time bartender at Seventh Heaven when Tifa was busy! It wasn't glamorous, but she was earning a living and any need for adventure was filled by doing errands for the King and fighting Heartless and the odd Nobody.

As they got on the tiny raft, Sora had a feeling things weren't going to go as they had planned.

It was only belatedly that she remembered the odd figure that had appeared right before the Darkness swallowed up the islands that spoke of the world being connected.

A chill ran down her spine.

"Hey Riku...what are the odds Xehanort was already _on_ the island when the Darkness swallowed it up?"

Riku blinked, before he swore.

"Shit... considering his knack for planning ahead and that weird figure that gave me a nudge right before the darkness arrived there's a high chance he _was_ here."

"Which means something is going to happen to interfere with our test," said Sora irritably.

She took out her phone. The sea was relatively calm for the moment, and it was best to give Yen Sid and the others a head's up about the potential problem.

_Slight problem with test. Xenahort may have been present when islands were lost. Possible interference. -Sora_

She sent the text to Mickey, who had a phone as well. It made communicating with their allies much easier.

Mickey was quick to call her.

"_What do you mean Xehanort might be there?"_ asked Mickey. From the sound of it, they were on speaker.

"Just a feeling. You know how my intuition gets when we're off on an adventure. Besides, Riku and I both saw a suspicious figure right before the islands were lost. We couldn't see the face, but considering the timing there's a strong chance Xehanort knows what we're doing and might interfere," said Sora bluntly.

Mickey had long since learned to trust Sora's gut feelings. They generally turned out to be correct, even if they weren't entirely straightforward about what it meant until after everything was over sometimes.

"Should we continue?" asked Riku.

"_For now,"_ said Yen Sid. _"However now that there's a suspicion of Xehanort's involvement, we will be tracking your phones to better supply aid once he reveals himself. It will allow Mickey and any possible allies to find you more quickly."_

"Understood," said Riku.

It made a lot of sense...after all, even if Xehanort was involved he was more inclined to scheme from the shadows before making a big play. If they stopped the test now, there was no guarantee he wouldn't interfere again anyway.

They might as well continue and keep an eye out for trouble.

Noticing the waves, Sora was quick to hang up and put her phone away. The two of them had special seals on the pocket where they put their phones to keep water out.

Riku's lips twitched upward when Sora flippantly asked if he was in the mood for "takoyaki", a Japanese dish Takeshi mentioned but was unable to share because he couldn't cook. He was rather skilled with making sushi, but anything involving actual cooking tended to result in the kitchen being lost.

Defeating Ursula was easy... but the last thing Sora remembered as they sank into the ocean was that of the mysterious cloaked figure.

* * *

Sora's first move once she was awake was to call Riku.

It connected, but no one answered.

Somehow, she had the feeling this was going to be a theme with him so she went the alternate route and just texted him. Sora had a sneaking suspicion "phone tag" as Squalo called it, was going to be a 'thing' during this test. Annoying, but better than nothing.

_Woke up in Traverse Town, 1st district. -Sora_

That done, she put her phone back up.

It didn't take long for her to hit the ground running, and follow a complete stranger. Story of her life, really.

_Riku POV_

Riku woke up, a little dazed. Then he heard the slight beep on his phone and found a missed call and a text.

From the looks of things, he was in 3rd district.

_Woke up in 3rd district. Any sign of trouble? -Riku_

He had a bad feeling when Sora didn't respond back at all. And hearing that Joshua guy talk, he had the sneaking suspicion he was going to be playing a long game of phone tag with his girlfriend.

That bad feeling got worse hearing about a suspicious character in a black coat right before he blacked out.

_Sora POV_

Sora woke up to find Neku and the figure in the black coat gone...and a text from Riku.

"Wonder why he woke up in 3rd District? Oh well," said Sora. At best they would catch up soon enough, and at worst they might finally run into each other once they went to the next world after waking up the "sleeping keyhole" as Yen Sid called it.

She ran around and finally found Neku...only to see a strange 'holographic' image of Riku backing up.

"What on earth?" said Sora baffled.

"What you're seeing is another version of this world," said Joshua.

"Another version?" said Sora. "Wait, do you mean to tell me I have to find a way back to my boyfriend _again?"_

"That's your boyfriend?" said Neku.

Sora looked ready to pitch a complete fit.

"Argh! Why does this happen _every_ time we go on some quest! I swear this is becoming a habit!" said Sora exasperated.

"You've been separated before?" said Joshua calmly.

Sora's eyes were twitching at this point.

"It's happened _twice_," said Sora irate. "Last time that idiot took the form of someone who has been manipulating us _repeatedly_."

She idly noticed the odd pattern on Riku's outfit, and wondered where she saw it before.

Sora took out her phone.

"What are you doing?" asked Neku, curious.

"Phone tag," deadpanned Sora.

_Is it just me, or is playing 'follow the leader' becoming a _theme_ with us? You had better not do something stupid like trying to chase after him solo this time, or I am so making you sleep on the couch for a month. -Sora_

(When Riku read that text he winced. He knew Sora would follow through on her threat if he chased after what looked like a younger fake Ansem.)


	10. Chapter 10

Sora didn't know why, but the man in the strange outfit gave her a really bad feeling. He was beyond rude too, calling her a "filthy gypsy" because her outfit was a bit different than what the locals were wearing.

She glared at the man.

"Doesn't the bible say 'Judge not others lest you yourself be judged?'" she said coldly.

"Like a wretched gypsy such as yourself would know anything," he snapped back.

"My older brother and his best friend are Catholic," deadpanned Sora. "And from what I see, you're the sort of person who hides behind a false mask of 'virtue' while committing unspeakable atrocities to hide your own insecurity about the fact you're just as human as everyone else."

The glare he gave her could have frozen a bonfire, it was that bad.

"Judge Frollo!"

Sora was relieved to see him, if only because she could sense he wasn't a complete hypocrite like this jerk.

"What is it Captain Phoebus? Can't you see I'm interrogating this gypsy?" said Frollo.

"Her? But she's just a young woman."

"A young woman unafraid to call him on being a complete hypocrite, apparently," said Sora. "Is it standard practice to make false accusations against someone who only just arrived in this city and has barely been here a mere hour?"

Normally Sora wasn't this sarcastic, but to be fair this Frollo pissed her off with his attitude at the worst time of the month possible. It was a good thing she kept a decent stock of supplies for this sort of situation, otherwise things would have become rather awkward later.

She caught the hidden wince of the other man.

Sora took out her gloves.

"You said something about monsters, right?" asked Sora.

"Yes. They just appeared out of nowhere."

"Back to work for me then."

_A short while later..._

"Ugh...the more I hear about this Frollo guy, the more I want to punch him," said Sora. "And what's the deal with keeping Quasi locked up in here?"

"He's not allowed to leave," said one of the gargoyles.

"Judge Frollo forbids it," said another.

"That's ridiculous," said Sora.

"Frollo keeps telling Quasi that his appearance would only make him a monster outside the cathedral."

"...I'll grant you that there are some people who would harass him for it, but there are plenty of others who won't even care about his appearance once they get to know him. Just because he looks funny outside doesn't change that he has a heart of gold inside. People just need a chance to see that," said Sora. "I mean look at Frollo. He looks perfectly normal but he's a complete jerk."

Sora could tell she won the gargoyles over big time for that comment.

_Hey Riku, watch out for a creep named Frollo. Pretty sure he's a major source of Darkness on this world. Feel sorry for Quasimodo though... Frollo has the guy living in a cage for stupid reasons. -Sora_

* * *

"You're that girl from earlier...Sora, was it?"

Sora looked at Phoebus for a moment, before relaxing.

"I take it you finally had enough of Frollo's nonsense?" she asked.

"How did you know?"

"You're not in armor and I could tell right away you were more sensible than he was. You have to wonder what his problem is with people just trying to live their lives, even if they follow a different belief system," said Sora.

"I argued about his behavior, and he took away my position as captain of the guard. He's obsessed with the gypsies and insists on ridding the city of them," said Phoebus in disgust.

"Considering he accused me of being a gypsy when I just arrived and had no idea what a gypsy even _was_, I am not surprised," deadpanned Sora. "Sorry about your job though."

"I'll be fine. However we have a bigger problem. Frollo said he's found the Court of Miracles and intends to wipe it out."

Sora narrowed her eyes.

"Don't you find it really suspicious that after all this time, he finally locates the last sanctuary of the very people he's been persecuting? What if he's just using us to find them? After all, they would be more likely to trust a complete newcomer than they would anyone who's been following orders all this time and you've shown you're more sympathetic to their plight."

Hearing the sound of something falling, they both turned to find Quasimodo. He had a strange pendant with him.

"Is Esmeralda going to be okay?" he asked.

"I don't know. But I find it really suspicious he's claiming he's found the Court of Miracles after all this time. Then again he might be using the power of Darkness to track them down," said Sora.

Quasi held up the pendant.

"It's the city! This is a map of the city!" he said excitedly. "See, here's the cathedral and the river!"

"Way to go Quasi," said Sora. "I do have one question though."

"What's that?" asked Quasi.

"Why did you believe Frollo's lie all these years about being a monster? From where I stand, he's way worse than you are. I mean just because you're shaped a little differently than everyone else doesn't mean you should stay hiding in a cage forever."

"But master said..."

"There will be people who won't accept you because of how you look, I won't lie about that. But there are plenty of people who will see past your appearance and realize the good person hiding underneath," said Sora sensibly. "Besides, Frollo can pretend to be a good Catholic all he wants, but he's only using it as a way to justify his hatred to people who have never done anything to him."

Quasi looked rather uncertain. However Phoebus had a look of respect for Sora.

"You certainly seem to know a lot," said Phoebus.

"My older brother and his friend are Catholics. While I might not share the same belief, I at least respect the fact that other people have faith in a higher power," said Sora.

Xanxus and Squalo had explained about their religion, but Sora honestly didn't share that same belief. She respected that they had faith and that it was important to them, but otherwise she stayed out of it.

"We need to find Esmeralda and warn her," said Quasi.

_Some time later..._

"Quasimodo, you can't let Frollo's lies keep you trapped in here forever," said Sora.

"I know. Frollo might have created the walls around me, but it wasn't him that kept me inside the cage. I think... I'm finally ready to see what the outside world has to offer, and to break free of the cage," said Quasimodo.

"That's the spirit," said Sora, patting him on the back without a second thought. "Just remember that even if people find you strange at first, there will always be those who see past your appearance to see your real self. After all, doesn't the god you believe in tell you to not to judge others unless you want to be judged yourself?"

Quasi smiled brightly at that reminder. Besides, even if things didn't work out the Arch Deacon at the cathedral had made it clear that even if he didn't fit in with the outside world, the bell tower would always be his home.

* * *

Words could not describe how happy Riku was to be off that world. It wasn't anything personal, just that Frollo had _really_ pissed Sora off during the worst time of the month to do it.

After the first time Sora blindsided him with being extra crabby and sarcastic, Riku had all but memorized her schedule and had been damn quick to learn the warning signs.

Seeing some of the texts Sora sent made him wince. He was just smart enough to keep his mouth shut because Sora wouldn't hesitate to make him sleep on the couch for a month once this was over if he said anything to irritate her.

Though when he got to the "Tron" world, he knew immediately that he would never be able to tell his girlfriend he rode a light cycle. Sora would be unbearable for weeks because she always wanted to try one and was a total adrenaline junkie.

_In Traverse Town..._

"So basically you think we're in a dream?" said Riku.

"It wouldn't matter much to me or my friends, but to you and Sora, it might provide a vital clue," said Joshua.

"...Actually it would explain an odd comment Sora sent in one of her texts."

"I'm still surprised you can reach each other using phones," said Joshua.

"They've been specially designed for connection between worlds. It's just annoying that we keep having to play phone tag because of the weird narcolepsy attacks we've been having," said Riku.

"Narcolepsy?" said Joshua.

"It's a condition where people fall asleep at random regardless of where they are or what they were doing," said Riku.

"Ah. So what was the comment Sora made?"

"She said she found it strange I had the same pattern the Spirits have on their bodies on the back of my jacket. Took me an hour to finally be able to photograph it and find out she wasn't joking."

(It was the first and likely only time Riku would ever bother using what Squalo called a "Selfie Stick". He really didn't see the appeal of those things.)

Joshua looked. Now that Riku mentioned it, he noticed the mark of the Dream Eaters on his back. How weird.

"Think you can help Beat and Rhyme with their mission?" asked Joshua.

"Sure, no problem," said Riku.

_Sora POV_

She was seriously irritated by this Dream Eater. While she was used to chasing down her prey, she disliked the fact that she was on a fixed time crunch since Neku and his partner needed it gone during a set time.

Which was why she didn't hesitate to chase after it. The sooner she defeated it, the more time she would have to figure out what game Xehanort was playing at this time.

Considering Joshua's comments, she suspected that she had been put into a sleep..._again_.

Seriously, was this going to be a theme with her? Being put into an enchanted slumber with Riku acting like a guard dog until she woke up? Because if she was sleeping, then she wanted a proper "princess-style" wake-up call from Riku.

(Riku took one look at that text and choke back a laugh. Considering how often Sora ended up asleep, he couldn't blame her much for wanting a "proper" wake-up call. If it meant she woke up and didn't spend another year sleeping, he had zero issue kissing his girlfriend to wake her up.)

* * *

Sora honestly wanted to scream at the indirect confirmation she was in another sleep spell.

For the love of all things sane, why did Xehanort or his minions keep using this stupid tactic?! Even before her gender became obvious, she kept ending up asleep! Did he have some weird fetish for sleeping princesses or something?

Actually, she would rather _not_ have that answered as that old fogey Xehanort and sex in the same thought made her shiver in disgust.

Especially since he had made his obsession with the Princesses of Light pretty damn obvious at this point.

Great...now she couldn't get that thought out of her head.

Well, there was only one thing for it.

She had to spread the misery.

_With Riku..._

"Damn it Sora! Did you have to share that train of thought?" said Riku, once he read the text.

He shuddered in disgust at the mental image she felt compelled to share, likely to spread the misery.

Still, she had at least confirmed the theory that she was trapped under a sleep spell...again. Which meant Riku had likely _had_ turned into some sort of special dream eater in order to protect her.

It also meant she was unlikely to wake up without outside interference. Riku had zero problems giving her the 'sleeping princess' treatment if it meant she would wake up.

He had to admit, it was getting pretty ridiculous that Xehanort kept using the same tactic around Sora. Was it possible he was afraid of her powers or the fact she was a Princess of Light with a keyblade?

At least he unlocked the seven sleeping keyholes, which meant that now he would be heading towards the troublemaker that was causing them grief. That is, if everything unfolded like it generally did.

Riku found himself in The World That Never Was, up in the castle. It took him a bit of doing, but he still managed to find Sora.

As they had all but expected, she was in a deep sleep with her dreams playing out in the dark bubble.

He almost pitied Xehanort when Sora woke up. She was almost certain to be pissed and eager for some payback for putting her into another sleep spell.

_With Sora..._

She looked at the gunman pissed.

"So just to be clear, Xehanort put me under another sleep spell and has some grand plan that involves leading me here. Is there any particular reason he keeps pulling that same stunt instead of facing me outright?" she asked irritably. "For that matter, why exactly haven't you done anything about that weird fetish he has regarding the Princesses of Light?!"

That got the Nobody to blink.

"Weird fetish?" he repeated incredulous.

"Seriously, has no one pointed out how creepy his insistence to use the Princesses is?! Or why his plans keep putting me under sleep spells?" said Sora, honestly creeped out.

Dead silence as the implications of that sunk in.

"Honestly, I think he just intends to use you as another avatar like he did your boyfriend, and I really hate that you put the thought of him and possible fetishes in my head," deadpanned Xigbar.

"I put it into Riku's head too," said Sora. "On the plus side it means I get to spread the misery."

"Right... I'm going to deal with you and get very, very drunk before that train of thought goes any further."


	11. Chapter 11

Seeing Sora on that white throne put a bad taste in his mouth. But Riku noticed something Xehanort clearly hadn't.

Sora was _faking_ being asleep...and she was beyond angry.

Sora was a surprisingly good actress...then again Xanxus and Squalo did train her to be "Quality", whatever that meant.

Knowing her, she was waiting for Xehanort to start his big move to turn her into his new vessel.

Which made Riku think that Xehanort had no idea about the fact Sora was a Princess of Light. Or he assumed that any light in Sora was actually a side effect of holding Kairi's heart.

So they listened patiently to Xehanort's speech about hearts.

Right up until he went to forcibly turn Sora into his next vessel anyway.

"Who belongs to you now?" said a pissed off female voice.

Xehanort never saw the punch to the face coming. It was _incredibly _satisfying.

"Impossible! You should have been trapped in darkness!" said Ansem.

"My heart is pure light, you jerk! All that stunt of yours did was really piss me off and trigger the protection aspect of my heart!"

A Princess of Light _could_ be corrupted, but any attempt to forcibly drag them into darkness like Xehanort had was doomed to failure. Instead all it had done was partially wake Sora up enough that she could fight back. At least until she was able to build up enough strength to fight off the spell completely.

"Capture her!"

Sora let instinct guide her actions. Xanxus had told her that the Vongola's Hyper Intuition (of which hers was the strongest he had ever seen, likely due to being directly descended from the Vongola Primo) would always guide her to the right path so long as she followed it. It was what had lead her to finding Xanxus after all, and many other allies.

She turned her keyblade on herself, unlocking the light within her heart...and causing the blade to erupt in warm orange fire that enveloped her body.

Riku would privately admit he found the sight of Sora in a dress made of pure flames with massive wings and a long flowing tail incredibly hot. Her eyes blazed like amber fire, and there was no doubt that her heart was filled with only light.

In response, Riku felt his own heart stir as violet flames sprang forth from his keyblade, causing it to change shape.

Xehanort looked at Sora in fury and shock.

"Impossible! The last Princess is Kairi!"

Sora snorted.

"My heart was sealed by an idiot, and the light within my heart sought an alternative vessel until the seal was removed. Kairi was just the first one it found. When her heart hid inside mine, the light returned to where it belonged, even if her own potential as a Princess of Heart was awakened."

She narrowed her eyes at Xehanort.

"Now, I do believe this latest headache you've given me deserves a proper response. Since you were intent on making not only me, but Roxas into your 'vessel', it seems only fitting I rob you of the one you took before!"

Xehanort clearly didn't get what she meant by that, and neither did anyone else. Which was perfect for her plans, because none of them saw what she did next coming.

Sora's light _slammed_ into one of the Ansem copies, this one slight older than the 'youngest' which had already disappeared.

That was when Xehanort realized what she was doing.

"You fool! His heart belongs to darkness!" he sneered.

"Not anymore it doesn't," said Sora, as a fire spread across the copy...and something flew out of his back.

Ansem nearly collapsed on the throne, greatly weakened.

"Your attack failed," sneered Xehanort.

"Who said I was attacking him? I was merely sending another dreamer back into a healing sleep until it's time to wake him up," said Sora. "As for the rest of you creeps...lets see how you like being flash fried!"

Axel (or Lea as he kept trying to insist) arrived in time to see the blast and whistled.

"Damn. Is she single?"

Riku's glare was cold as ice. Axel took the hint and immediately backed off. On the plus side, Xehanort disappeared.

Sora practically crashed, as she had used up a lot of her flames to chase him off...and liberate the mystery heart that was trapped in his darkness.

Riku caught her without a second thought.

The worst was finally over.

* * *

Riku was exasperated at the fact Sora was asleep, again. Then again she had used up a lot of energy breaking free.

Considering Master Yen Sid wanted Riku to use his new power to wake her up, Riku decided to humor Sora's selfish demand.

Seeing her wake up after he kissed her was amusing, but not as much as the look everyone gave him.

"What?"

"Seriously? She woke up from a kiss?" said Axel.

"We already knew she was under a sleep spell after a couple of worlds, and once that became obvious she made it clear that if I didn't at least try this method to wake her up she would make me sleep on the couch. Besides, she was just tired from using up that much energy all at once," shrugged Riku.

"Ugh. And thanks to Xehanort, I had to use up all the power I had before to free the heart he had trapped in as his vessel. Which means I'm going to have to work from scratch, _again_," said Sora in annoyance.

"What do you mean, free the heart he had trapped?" asked Mickey.

"I mean I could sense there was a second heart being forcibly hidden by his darkness. I used my flames to free it and send it someplace where they can heal in peace," said Sora.

"Riku, I can sense that you have truly earned the right to be called Master. However at this juncture I cannot bestow such an honor upon Sora. Her powers have been taken."

Sora almost looked disappointed. Then she remembered the pods.

"Master Yen Sid, the task was to awaken the sleepers. What about awakening sleeping Keyblade wielders that were thought lost?" asked Sora.

She knew how to do it now, and this was the perfect time to wake them up.

"What do you mean?" asked Axel.

"I mean I know where Roxas, Naminé and a couple of others are, waiting to be woken up and brought back," said Sora. "Riku stumbled across them by accident, but we didn't know how to get them out. Maybe with the experience I got awakening the sleeping worlds I can finally free them from the pods."

"It is possible. The progress bar was almost filled the last time we checked them," said Riku.

Yen Sid stroked his beard.

"If you are able to awaken the sleeping hearts of Roxas and Naminé, then I will consider you worthy of being acknowledged as a Keyblade Master. However you will still have to work hard to regain the power you lost when you fought off Xehanort."

"Xanxus will be thrilled to have another excuse to train me into the ground," joked Sora. Riku snorted at that.

_In Twilight Town_...

Mickey was amazed. He had no idea the other pods had anyone in them until Sora said something. From the looks of things, a fifth one was occupied but the progress bar was barely at five percent. The others, however, looked ready to open.

Sora concentrated on the feeling she had when she awakened the sleeping keyholes, and combined it with the feeling of her flames when she liberated the heart trapped by Xehanort.

She let her instincts combine the two powers, and in response there was a change in the pods.

Sunny yellow, sky blue, deep indigo, and verdant green fire consumed the opaque 'glass' of the pods, obscuring the progress bar completely from within.

Sora allowed her flames to dance down her keyblade, before leveling it at the pods.

The flames grew brighter and deeper, before splintering off to hit the pods and causing a chain reaction inside. The fires grew brighter and stronger, and Sora turned her key as if to unlock the pods.

Orange tangled with the four other colors, merging with them to make them even brighter and more vibrant.

Then...it happened. The pods began to open.

And the first one out was the bright yellow fire...which turned out to be none other than Roxas!

Axel didn't hesitate...he stared for all of three seconds before pulling his best friend into a bone-crushing hug.

Three others came out of the pods. A girl who could have passed for Sora's black-haired twin wearing a familiar coat, Naminé, and another boy who could have passed for Roxas's older brother.

Mickey was in shock.

"It can't be! Ventus!"

The odd Roxas double looked and was rather shocked to see King Mickey as well.

"King Mickey? What happened? How did I get here?"

Sora sagged a bit. Awakening four hearts was exhausting since her strength had been sapped.

"Sora!" said Riku with some alarm.

"I'm fine...just tired from using up my energy. Just have to build up my stamina again is all," said Sora. "More importantly, who are you?"

The girl with black hair smiled sadly at Sora.

"Number fourteen, Xion. I was made as your Replica to insure you didn't wake up, but I knew it would also mean Roxas would sleep forever as well so I decided to disappear," she said quietly.

Memories hit Roxas and Axel like bricks, and they promptly pulled her into a hug. They were together again, thanks to Sora.

Riku spotted Naminé, who was watching the entire thing with a sad smile on her face.

"Actually that reminds me. Naminé, when you put Sora's memories back to where they belonged, did you put them _all_ back?"

"What do you mean?" asked Naminé.

"My parents and a good portion of the island I grew up on have no idea who I am," said Sora bluntly. "We went to check on them before going on a date and the first thing my mother said to me was to ask if I was Riku's friend. Everyone remembers that there was a third child who played with Riku and Kairi often but can't remember who it was to make a positive ID."

Naminé winced hearing that.

"I honestly have no idea why that happened. I put all your memories where they belonged."

"Is it possible some of them got scrambled, since you likely focused on Kairi and me?" asked Riku.

"It's possible, but I really have no idea how your parents suddenly gained amnesia towards you," said Naminé apologetically. To be fair, she hadn't bothered to focus on those, so she had no clue why they were affected.

"We should get back to Master Yen Sid," said Riku.

_Inside Yen Sid's tower..._

To say the man was shocked to see not only Roxas and Naminé, but Ventus as well was an understatement.

More importantly, he could sense that all of them possessed hearts as well as soul fire.

"Impressive. I never expected that you would possess the power to not only awaken sleeping hearts, but give hearts to those who were born without them," said Yen Sid. "Perhaps it is a side effect of the flame you carry within you, Sora."

Sora's power was truly mysterious. She had the ability to connect with many hearts, even those of people she had only just met, and to use that connection to become stronger. And that was just for complete strangers.

To those who she bonded with, their fires burned brighter and shown like beacons of light in the darkness. Riku's triumph over his own darkness could possibly be attributed to his close association with his girlfriend.

"In any case, I believe you have earned the Mark of Mastery. However I would caution you not to go looking for trouble until your powers have been restored. If you were to go against Xehanort now you would almost certainly fail," said Yen Sid.

"Xanxus-nii is going to be thrilled. An excuse to train me more," said Sora dryly. Then a wicked grin filled her features. "In fact, I bet he's going to be very happy to have more vic... I mean _volunteers_ in training as will Squalo and Takeshi."

Roxas gave her a narrow eyed look in suspicion.

"You were about to call us victims, weren't you?"

"To be fair, Squalo is going to have a field day beating a real fighting style into you since you dual-wield," said Sora far too cheerfully. "Especially since I know for a fact that none of us have any real sword training beyond what we figured out on our own. He was appalled when he saw my personal style the first time."

Roxas felt it very ominous that Riku started 'coughing' which sounded entirely too much like he was laughing at their expense. He foresaw pain and possible humiliation in his future.

Mickey suddenly thought of something.

"Hey Sora, if Ventus was in one of the pods, then does that mean the person you rescued during the test was Terra?" asked Mickey. Ventus visibly perked up at that question.

"I have no idea who I freed from Xehanort's control...just that he felt a _lot_ like Riku only with a different flame type," admitted Sora. "He felt...Stormy, for lack of a better description."

"How will we know who's inside?" asked Ventus with a painful kind of hope.

"We have to wait for the progress bar to fill at least halfway. It's how we knew for sure Roxas and Naminé were inside, even when we had no idea who the other two were. At the very least we'll get a general outline," said Riku.

Riku understood the hope in Ventus' eyes all too well. It was the same one he got every time Sora was taken from him and he knew he had to be patient before they could be together again.

Though after this mess, he was definitely going to accelerate certain...plans.

Sora, however, was trying to figure out why Ventus felt so damn familiar.

It wouldn't be until later she realized that he was the reason she had managed to regain her heart in the first place. Shortly after she landed on Destiny Islands, Ventus had appeared. His heart had sparked the remnants of what little light was left in her own.

It was because of him that she could stand proudly today, and if not for her sharing what little light she had left, he likely wouldn't have made it after what Xehanort did to him.

* * *

_In Radiant Garden..._

"Hey Xanxus-nii! Squalo-nii! I got fresh meat for you!" she called out with a cackle.

Roxas looked to Xion and Ventus.

"Do those words feel you with just as much foreboding as they do me, or am I being paranoid?"

The moment Squalo came out and took one look at them only to smirk like a shark, Ventus said the most ominous words Roxas and Xion had ever heard.

"It's not just you."


	12. Chapter 12

Xanxus was irritable that all of the effort he went into training Sora to be Quality had been ruined, but at least the girl had the brains to come to him first once she recovered from the initial shock to her system for retraining. Even better, she brought her new Lightning, Rain, Mist, and Sun for training as well, so he could be assured of their skill level.

However his focus, when he wasn't training Sora's ass into the ground with her newly bonded Elements (three of which felt like her, only without the Sky flame, WTF?) was working with the "witch" known as Naminé.

And boy, did Kairi have a total freak out upon coming face to face with her blond, blue-eyed double a second time. Except this time Naminé had a heart.

So far they were having no luck reversing the bizarre amnesia on Sora's parents, and by this point she had moved away from requiring parental supervision entirely and was mostly living on her own in a room above Seventh Heaven which she sacrificed a small portion of her paycheck to Tifa as 'rent'.

Ventus, Roxas and Xion were torn between exhaustion and cursing out Sora for introducing them to Squalo and his rather 'eager' apprentice Takeshi. Squalo pushed them to the absolute limits and Takeshi's outlook on life drove them all crazy because he treated everything like a game.

In a last attempt to do_ something_ to help Sora's predicament, Naminé went to Destiny Islands and decided to 'tweak' the adult's minds so that they went through old photos for a weekend. However what she found revealed it wasn't _her_ fault that the inhabitants of the islands forgot about her in the first place.

"Wait...you mean you felt _Maleficent's_ power on the island?" said Sora incredulous.

Riku face-palmed.

"You know, that is something she would pull. Making everyone forget you exist sounds _exactly_ like one of her more vicious schemes and for all we know she did it because you took her new favorite toy away right before the end of her big plot as a distraction or something," said Riku.

"Toy?" repeated Sora amused.

"Did you forget that you managed to convince me to drop what I was doing before the door opened when this first started?" said Riku.

Sora snorted.

"So what do we do?" asked Sora.

"I don't know," said Naminé, though it was a relief to know it _wasn't_ her fault the islands had a collective amnesia.

Xanxus smirked.

"Why not give the islanders a reason to go through old photos?"

Sora looked at him.

"What better way to nudge them into remembering you than to have a big wedding and getting the adults to reminisce about their own, only to discover the older pictures of you and Riku and spark the missing memory?" said Xanxus.

Riku had been trying to figure out the best time to pop a certain question to his best friend/girlfriend. He had already confirmed that Keyblade Masters were allowed to marry, though it rarely happened because it often meant a long distance relationship. It was even rarer for two Masters to marry each other, if only because the number of people able to use the Keyblade had dropped to almost nonexistent levels ever since the Keyblade War.

With all the crap they just went through again, and the sudden awakening of Naminé and the others, this sounded like the perfect pick-me-up before they had one last confrontation with Xehanort on top of hopefully sparking the missing memories.

Riku looked at his girlfriend, and then at Xanxus.

"I'm game."

"Wait, what?" said Sora, staring at him.

"I asked Yen Sid and he said Keyblade Masters were allowed to marry, though most waited until retirement first," said Riku. He found it adorable that Sora blushed hearing that.

"So, we plan a big wedding for you two on the islands and hopefully get the adults reminiscing about their own...a little tweaking from Naminé and it'll get them looking at the pictures of their kids growing up," said Xanxus. "Besides, you'll both be better off if you're married before we try to return to Earth."

"Why?" asked Sora.

"Means the old bastard can't try to marry you off to better the family and it closes off another avenue for Iemitsu to try and gain control over you. Any idiot can have the necessary paperwork forged, but if asked we'll honestly claim that you come from an island that doesn't bother with the marriage license, only the birth and death records," said Xanxus.

* * *

Sora was honestly and happily surprised when Riku proposed to her _properly. _Riku, while glad to finally have a chance to marry the girl he had been in love with for years, bemoaned the temporary loss of his hearing from the sheer volume of delighted squeals from the female contingent that Sora hung out with the most.

Well, him and most of the guys. He honestly didn't expect a total tomboy like Yuffie to get that loud over a wedding.

Since Riku was honestly planning to marry Sora and hopefully break the influence of Maleficent's spell, they decided the best place to have the wedding was on the beach on the same islands where their adventure had started.

Aerith would supply the flower arrangements. Yuffie would help with the decorations, and Tifa would help with the drinks for the reception. Cid and Leon would do most of the photography and recording...it was the only way to keep the girls from dragging them into their wedding frenzy.

Xanxus would be acting in place of Sora's father, since one couldn't remember he had a daughter and the other was on a world they couldn't access just yet.

Naminé, Xion, and Kairi would be the maids of honor, while Axel, Roxas, Ventus would be on Riku's side, since he didn't have many guy friends.

Mickey would officiate the ceremony, Minnie would handle the rings Riku had bought, and Donald's three nephews would be selling last minute gifts.

All in all, it was going to be a massive undertaking, though the three fairies were thrilled that Sora asked them to handle the dresses. She was going to look like an actual fairy-tale princess by the end of it if they had their way.

Riku would be just as happy once this mess was over with...he would have eloped with Sora, but he also knew the girls would never let him hear the end of it if he did. Besides, the smile on her face when she heard she could have a big wedding made the entire thing worth it.

Though he was looking forward to their honeymoon. Instead of staying in one place, the two were going on a trip around the various worlds they could access using the dark corridor. It meant they'd have plenty of pictures to share with everyone and an almost guarantee not to be disturbed.

_The day of the wedding..._

Riku would have great trouble recalling a single detail of the wedding the _second_ he caught sight of Sora. He had thought she looked beautiful in the light dress she had worn once in order to prove he had a girlfriend to everyone on the island.

The dress she wore now put that one to shame, or perhaps it was the joy and happiness he could feel radiating from her through their bond.

Riku firmly kept his eyes on Sora, though he still remembered to say the right words when needed. The sheer amount of love he felt from Sora when the ring was on her finger almost overwhelmed him.

He had known their bond was strong, but this merely cemented the fact that he would never have to worry about seeing her with someone else. She was _his_.

During the reception, Riku spotted Sora's parents who looked like they were suffering from a slight headache.

He made a few choice comments that would hopefully convince them to spend a weekend or two looking at old photos. With any luck Sora would have her parents back when they got back.

* * *

"How was the honeymoon?" said Xanxus.

Sora went a bright red. Xanxus leered at her.

"That good huh?"

"Riku _really_ liked the cat ears and tail," she replied.

"Is it my fault that whoever gave you that idea made the extras so realistic?" said Riku smirking. Xanxus snorted in amusement at that.

"What about the photos?" asked Xanxus.

Sora looked like she had a headache.

"It partially worked...mom and dad finally remembered who I was, but there are still some hold-outs. They were less than happy about what happened and that I had to move out so early, but they agreed it was probably for the best considering I wouldn't have really had any place to stay since everyone forgot about me. Fortunately they approved of the fact I live with Tifa now and thanked Aerith for taking me in once we realized what was going on," said Sora.

"Yeah, lucky Tifa doesn't mind letting us stay at Sora's apartment until we find a place of our own," said Riku.

"In any case, since the important things are over with, how do you feel about possibly unlocking the path to Earth?" asked Sora.

"We can be packed and ready to go in an hour," said Squalo seriously.

They were more than ready to go home and stir things up. Xanxus in particular wanted to go back, as he had been trapped in ice and thus needed to reaffirm his position as Varia Boss.

Sora looked at Riku.

"We'll contact some of the others. We'll be ready to go in two hours, since we've put this off long enough," said Riku.

Xanxus had long since trained Sora back roughly to the same point she had been at during the Mark of Mastery exam. It had taken two months of hard training, but it was more than worth it. She found it beyond frustrating that she had to start from scratch _every_ time a new adventure started. It was such a pain regaining all the keyblades she had gathered, only for them to disappear at the end of things. Never mind having to regain a mastery of her magic!

In two hours, those that would be journeying to Earth gathered. Since only Sora could open up the path and the expanded Gummi ship Cid had upgraded could only hold so many, a select few were chosen.

Xanxus, Squalo, and Takeshi were a given, as were Riku and Sora. Roxas and Naminé would be joining them as well, but Xion was currently training with Kairi and Axel in properly unlocking their potential as keyblade wielders on another world. Ventus was with them to act as a sparring partner and semi-trainer, since he had more experience under a proper keyblade master and could give them needed pointers. If he could get them up to speed by the time Xehanort reappeared, Yen Sid had promised to allow Ventus a chance to prove his own mettle as a potential Master and hopefully stand on equal ground with Aqua and Terra.

Terra was still in a coma for the most part, but the progress bar on the pod he was sleeping in was making decent headway and Ventus was hopeful the man he considered an older brother would be out before Xehanort found out what happened to him.

Sora followed her 'intuition' as Xanxus called it to find Earth.

The shield around the world was pretty visible, and looked more like shackles. It felt rather foul, and Sora had to shiver at the memory of falling through the cracks as a child.

"You okay?" asked Riku.

"Just remembering going through that," she said.

Sora held up her preferred Keyblade and aimed it at the shackles. They resisted her at first, but a portal of light opened up, allowing them to slip through the shield.

Xanxus took a deep, long breath once they were outside the ship...and felt something settle into his very bones.

He was finally home, after so long!

"Where are we?" asked Riku.

Squalo took a look around, and snorted.

"Looks like the coast of Sicily," he said. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

Now that they were on Earth, they could use Varia resources. It would be a simple matter to hide the ship and get an update.

"Boss-honey!" said Lussuria, practically glomping Xanxus.

"Mu...it's good to see you come back, especially during such a critical time," said Mammon.

"What happened?" asked Xanxus.

"The man who cursed us sent out an invitation. Whoever wins the tournament he's holding will be freed from the curse," said Mammon. "However we're to have representatives."

Sora frowned at that.

"How long ago was this?"

"Around ten this morning," said Mammon.

Sora looked at her phone, set to Earth time. It was roughly eleven and it had taken her at least an hour and a half to break through the barrier.

"It's a trap. He must have sensed what I was doing and plans to use you as a sacrifice to strengthen the barrier."

Mammon paused and frowned.

"Mu. We are almost at our limit. It's entirely possible that he intends to sacrifice us anyway to prepare for the next set of victims."

"Something this big, he won't have time to track down the mystery Keyblade Master and deal with them directly...nor will he have any idea that the person he's looking for is already aware of his plan and will do their best to destroy the seal he's placed on this world. Our best bet is to wait for the battles to reach their climax when he shows up and unlock all the seals at once," said Riku.

It was a sound plan, and if they could pull it off the Arcobaleno would all be in Sora's debt.

Though from what Mammon could tell, there was a possibility Sora might just be strong enough to harmonize with them in the process of freeing them. It wasn't like the girl had been raised on the idea that a Sky could only hold one set of elements after all.


	13. Chapter 13

It was unusual that Viper would call the others into a meeting after the Vindice showed up. Particularly since the battles were almost at their end.

"What do you have planned?" asked Reborn bluntly. This entire farce was draining on him, in more than one way. It didn't help that he had to keep his student alive...after all, what sane person expected an eleven year old with barely a year of training and only half the required guardians (all of whom were just as untrained as he was) to survive this fiasco?

It made him glad he asked Dino to be his representative, instead of Tsunayoshi. Putting him in the direct line of fire with so many big names, including _Xanxus_ who had appeared out of nowhere, was just asking for him to be killed!

(About the only mercy was that his twin sister Tsurara was firmly civilian and that Nono agreed to keep it that way. Mostly to shut Iemitsu up about his son joining the mafia.)

"When that man shows up, try to gather in one collective spot," said Viper.

"What?" said Skull confused.

"A third party that's allied with my Sky are planning something that will throw a wrench into that man's plans for us. However the best way to insure he can't stop them is for us to be close enough to the same general area that they can reach all of us before he can stop it."

"This plan of yours... what do they get out of it?" asked Lal suspiciously.

Viper looked directly at Lal and Reborn.

"The missing heiress of the Vongola is going to make a big appearance," they replied cryptically. "I can't say more on the matter because I don't want _him_ to find out what they're going to do."

Reborn inhaled sharply.

"Are you telling me Setsuna Sawada is alive?"

"Her name is Sora now, and she brought her husband and a few others with her," said Viper.

"...How old would that girl be again?" asked Colonello faintly.

Viper smirked and held out a hand. With a sigh, several of the others, particularly Reborn and Lal, sent a wire transfer to their preferred account.

"She's eighteen and her husband is a few months older than her. He's also her Cloud guardian, and his territory happens to be his Sky," said Viper smugly. "They're childhood friends from what the Boss told me."

Fon winced at the implications. A Cloud who's territory was threatened was terrifying, but to have it centered around their Sky made them far more dangerous. If she hadn't married him, he likely would have made the lives of anyone who attempted to date her an absolute hell.

His grandson was bad enough, and his territory was Namimori!

"So...you have a plan to deal with him?" said Reborn.

"The Vindice were a surprise, but the main target is Checkerface," said Viper.

"...Is there any way you could convince Setsuna to try for Decimo?" asked Reborn seriously.

Viper shook their head.

"Leading the Vongola wouldn't interest her. I have it on good authority that even if the Ninth or Iemitsu tried to go that route, they would likely fail and suffer grievous injuries. She's not too happy that it was their incompetence that caused her to be taken in the first place."

* * *

The Arcobaleno could only patiently wait for the final battle between their respective partners. As agreed, they all discreetly remained within range of each other, while making it look accidental.

So when Checkerface appeared, Tsunayoshi (Reborn's student) nearly had a heart attack because he was terrified what would happen once that man killed his tutor. Bermuda had made it clear that once the curse ran it's course, the only thing that awaited the Arcobaleno was death...or to become part of the Vindice.

So you could imagine the shock everyone except Viper's group had when a young woman roughly eighteen or so in an outfit that reminded Tsuna strongly of the one worn by Tifa in _Advent Children_ (just with slightly different coloring) appeared.

"You!" hissed Checkerface. "You should not interfere!"

The young woman stared him down indifferently.

"Did you really think the seal you placed on this world would go unchallenged forever? Especially by someone who became a victim of the side effects?" she said in slightly accented Japanese.

Tsuna blinked. What did she mean by that?

Checkerface looked pissed.

"I put that seal on this world to keep it safe! A mere Keyblade Master has no right to interfere! It goes against the mandate!"

She snorted at that.

"You created a flawed system that has ruined _countless_ lives because you're too lazy to actually _fix_ it," she said flatly. "Never mind it was _your_ flawed system that sent me away because of a pair of idiots with delusions of grandeur!"

Xanxus hoped no one heard his snort of derision, considering that same system threw _him_ out. Not that he was complaining overly much...he got an amusing little sister out of the deal and she let him out of that ice with no strings attached.

"What mandate is he talking about?" asked Tsuna to Reborn. His tutor had zero clue what the 'god' was talking about.

"He means the mandate of the Keyblade wielders. There's a somewhat strict rule of noninterference on other worlds, since it can cause problems," said an unfamiliar voice.

Tsuna turned and saw a silver-haired man with calm green eyes that reminded him strongly of a less violent Hibari-sempai, just with Hayato-kun's coloring.

"Will she get in trouble?" said Tsuna worriedly.

"Not really. As far as we know this 'Checkerface' isn't even from Earth, which means technically _he_ would be in bigger trouble. Especially since the seal he placed on this world is directly interfering with the people living on it in a negative way," said the man. "Whereas Sora was born on this world, but cast out due to circumstances that were never in her control because the seal mistook her for something else."

Reborn narrowed in on the young woman. Now that he was looking for it, he could see the strong resemblance to his youngest student.

"So that's Setsuna," he said to himself.

Tsuna looked at his tutor in shock.

That was his older sister? The one who went missing?

"You can't stop me. You don't have the qualifications to break the seal," said Checkerface.

"Watch me," said Sora.

Sora took out her weapon, which was shaped like a key for some strange reason, and raised it up high. Pure Sky flames licked the edges of the blade, before going up in a pillar of light and scattering into at least eight different smaller beams.

Tsuna watched in disbelief as one of those beams hit Reborn, who was right next to him. With an audible click, the pacifier that had been around his neck for as long as he had known the hitman fell off with a clunk.

Reborn stared, before he almost doubled over. It wasn't pain, but something was clearly happening to him.

He looked towards Fon-san, who was close by next to Hibari-sempai. He was doubled over as well, and his pacifier was gone.

That's when Tsuna noticed something.

Reborn was getting taller. Tsuna blinked. Actually it looked like Reborn was getting _older_, not just taller. The baby fat on his face started to thin out and become more defined, his features becoming sharper and far more masculine. The small hands and feet began to fill out and his limbs grew several times the size they had been.

Before he knew it, the tiny toddler he was used to became the face of a man who had practically beaten the crap out of Iemitsu less than a day ago.

"Reborn? Are you okay?"

Reborn stared at his adult hands in a mixture of shock and disbelief. He wasn't the only one.

"Reborn?" said Dino in disbelief.

"What have you done?" hissed Checkerface. He went to attack Sora for breaking the 'seal'...only to find her blade against his neck.

"Your status as Keyblade Master has been revoked. It's bad enough Xehanort has been going around destroying lives out of some big scheme to revive the X-Blade in order to reach Kingdom Hearts, the last thing we need is a former Master playing god," snapped Sora.

He stared at her.

"Xehanort is still _alive_?" he asked.

He had sensed the way Xehanort had somehow managed to split his body and soul into other pieces...how that man hadn't lost his heart and was still able to use his keyblade was anyone's guess. He had just hoped that _thing_ had died at this point.

"And is likely trying to spark the Keyblade Wars all over again with the way he's been going," said Sora flatly.

"The seal is necessary," he insisted.

"No, the seal is flawed and you should have fixed it long before it got to this point," she shot back. "If you had done your job right, then it wouldn't have required regular sacrifices of people who weren't even asked to sustain itself. Why did you create such a ridiculous seal anyway?"

"It was necessary to keep the darkness from completely taking over all the worlds."

Sora pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation.

"Great...so a paranoid idiot thinks that in order to keep the darkness from winning, he needs to trick people into becoming sacrifices for a flawed seal that doesn't even work properly and pisses off an untold number of victims," she said irritably. "By the way, it looks like some of your 'friends' would like to have a word with you."

Checkerface turned...only to find a very pissed off Bermuda and the rest of the Vindice ready with chains.

* * *

Sora had a headache, but fortunately Xanxus was willing to share his booze. With the ease of long practice, she mixed everyone's drinks.

"You're rather experienced at this," said Reborn.

"I live and work at a bar," said Sora shrugging.

"So. Our curse is finally broken," said Verde.

"This is awesome!" said Skull happily. He immediately hugged Sora.

That was when Sora noticed the shy and somewhat skittish brunette staring at her.

"Who is that?" asked Sora, sipping her whiskey.

Reborn saw his young student and promptly dragged the boy closer.

"This is Tsunayoshi Sawada. Your younger brother, if you really are the same child that went missing almost thirteen years ago after that visit."

Riku was glad his phone had a camera. It gave him an excellent video of Sora's spit-take.

"What?!"

Tsuna winced at the volume.

"Shark, explain," said Xanxus.

"Iemitsu tried one last time to reconcile with his wife, before she filed for legal separation. During that time frame, Nana Sawada gave birth to twins roughly nine months after his initial stay at the home, and Nono decided that since the son had Inactive Sky flames he was the best choice for heir despite the fact he had been raised civilian with no knowledge of the inner workings of the Cosa Nostra," said Mammon.

Sora pinched the bridge of her nose. However when she saw how skittish the poor kid was, she pulled him into a hug.

"Relax kid, I won't bite."

Tsuna hugged his older sister tightly, just reveling in the warmth and security she provided.

Sora looked at Reborn seriously.

"Exactly what sort of person is our mother like?"

"Mama doesn't pay attention to me. Not really," said Tsuna quietly. "She openly ignores the fact I was struggling in school until Reborn showed up and the fact I was being bullied, never mind the amount of times Reborn's shot at me in front of her. I mean she gave me a roof over my head, clothes and food, but that was about it. She spends more time with Tsurara than me."

Sora hugged her little brother tighter, wrapping her flames around him protectively.

"It's okay," she said gently.

"Mama never really cared...she used to tell me that it was okay that I couldn't do anything right so long as I was _happy_," said Tsuna.

Sora shared a look with Riku. She didn't have to say a thing.

"So what are you doing to do now?" asked Reborn.

"Well now we're going to see what other messes that idiot created, before we head back home," said Sora.

Tsuna stiffened.

"You do realize that Iemitsu and Nono are going to want a word with you," said Lal.

"They put a seal on me that was once used for criminals that had nasty effects on my health and development. I was barely _five_, and that seal nearly destroyed my life. As far as I'm concerned, anything they want from me can go hang," said Sora flatly. "I could care less about the Vongola and it's not like they have anything that would interest me in the first place."

"What do you mean, nearly destroyed your life?" said Lal.

Sora looked at her in the eye and told her exactly what she meant.

"That seal kept the hormones that would have jump-started puberty from being released. Not to mention the sheer amount of power that was being forcibly contained in my body almost roasted some of my internal organs, in particular the ones that would allow me to have children. And don't get me started on the problems I had with coordination and information recall," said Sora flatly. "When Yen Sid and Merlin found exactly what sort of seal was on me, they said it was a barbaric spell that had been outlawed by any civilized world centuries ago because of the damage it causes. The fact it was put on a child would have been enough to sentence the culprits to a life sentence without any chance of freedom."

"How did you get the seal off?" asked Dino with interest.

"I asked Genie for help restoring what had been taken from me. I knew something was wrong, but I had no idea what. He was the one who used magic to examine if I had anything on me and found the seal," said Sora.

"Genie?" said Reborn incredulous.

"That Disney shit is real. Most of the worlds I've visited with Sora and Riku have been heavy on the Disney theme."

"So by 'Genie' you mean the one from the _Aladdin_ series?" asked Skull with interest.

"Pretty much," said Xanxus. He silently held out his glass, and Sora dutifully refilled it.

"Does that mean the _Lion King_ is real too?" asked Tsuna.

"They call it the Pride Lands," said Riku.

"Personally I prefer Halloweentown. That place was fun!" said Sora cackling.

Sora _loved_ Halloweentown, because every time they went she turned into something Jack called a Dark Fairy. That particular 'monster' was extremely rare as they had their own world and only rarely visited. Riku, when Sora took him to that world, turned into a massive silver-furred werewolf to her amusement.

Riku would adamantly deny the fact that Sora had his tail and hind legs going nuts.


End file.
